Best Winter Layers

[mags2009]

Hi! My Red Star, started to lay on October 26, and hasn't missed a day! AND she lays the biggest egg, although I feel a bit sorry for her, she's our smallest chicken!!! (poor thing!)

 

[Freeholder]

I don't know which individual hens are laying in my flock, just that the flock is averaging five to seven eggs most days (only got two today, though -- at least I got both of them before they froze!). I know my six EE's aren't contributing anything, as all but one of them lays green eggs (one lays a pinkish egg), and I haven't gotten a single egg from any of them since October.

However, if you want to do some checking and try to figure out which hens are laying without sitting out there for hours on end or building trap nests (trap nests also require a great deal of time as you have to check frequently to release trapped hens), you can do the 'finger' test -- holding the hen, see if you can fit three fingers between her pelvic bones just below the vent. If you can only fit two fingers, she's not laying. Three fingers doesn't mean she's laying every day, but at least it will give you some idea of who is paying for her feed and who isn't.

Kathleen

 

[moonlyghtegirl]

I live just outside of Chattanooga. I have Buff Orpingtons, wonderful girls, I usually get one egg daily from each. Every once and a while, one will take the day off.

 

[hcammack]

My Salmon Faverolle bantams are laying 1-3 eggs a day from 3 laying age hens and 3 younger POL pullets. They are in a chicken tractor with no heat or artificial light.

Henry

 

[catdaddyfro]

Quote:
Ha, kinda makes people look atcha funny and stuff, huh?

Last hatching season I was saving eggs for hatching, well I had more than my incubator could hold once and I went through and picked out the ones I wanted to hatch and sold the rest to my neighbor at the time.

Anyway, later on I was over there visiting at their house and she asked " What's those eggs with all the writing on them for", so I explained to her that I had marked them for hatching eggs and so on....She asked "you have all those d#@$$med chickens named?"

I replied No but they all have some sort of a code number or abreviated letter, she replied "Well I thought all chickens were the same, how do you tell them apart" I simply replied they all are different and are not the same.

Anyway it made for interresting conversation even if she thought I was nuts.

catdaddy

 

[Mahonri]

My Black Sex Link pullet has only missed laying one day since October 1st. She is a machine.

 

[dacdeihl]

Quote:
Isa Browns are doing great for me. When light started to go down I noticed fewer eggs. Put a light on a timer and within a week egg production was back on track. I have a couple of other breeds, don't really know. Solid white and a couple of RIR's.

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
It can but I know of many that are older that still lay in winter. Most hatchery stock is production bred at least out of the big 2 hatcheries Ideal and MM. The smallers might not be so much. Mine come from Mt Healthy and I have seen how different they are from other hatcheries. The breed in full is suppose to be slower growing taken longer to reach full size. So I have some that are fitting this just right and have not layed yet. So far I only have 2 light bodied birds that will be finding new homes. The other are all at weight and good size.

If you do a search here on ROCK you will get a good idea about the breed. Just put in topics only or else you will be reading alot of other stuff. One good thing about Any breed chicken is most of the time they will out lay a hybred over time. You do not need to replace chickens so often as many are known to lay well into there 5th year. Just less that is all.

 

[Amethyste]

My BO, BR and EE's in my prior flock did really well as winter layers. Only the EE's are left now, but atm the EE are only ones laying...the little ones are not quite old enough yet to lay. Getting close but no eggs yet.

 

[ninny]

I have RIRs, leghorns, oringptons, welsummers. Everbody is laying still.