California - Northern

[lawatt]

for whatever it's worth, i actually have a silver campine pullet (nearly a year old, so i suppose she'll be a hen soon) who has NEVER laid an egg. she's also got a much larger comb than her sister, and is wayyyy more skittish around me -- makes me wonder whether she's actually of indeterminate gender. i only keep her around because she's her sister's best friend.

 

[debs_flock]

Wow Laura, that is unusual. Campines are my absolute best layers. A huge egg from nearly every girl, nearly every day. They are the first to start in the spring, the last to quit in the winter and take the shortest break for molting.

If I was keeping a flock of just layers, they would be my go to birds.

 

[PetRock]

My friends in Placerville have a white Cream Legbar who is big and beautiful but has not laid an egg yet. She must be getting close to a year because they got her last summer and she wasn't a young chick when they got her. They are concerned that she doesn't like it at their place. She has a big, red comb but I checked her out and no signs of being a cockerel. All their other layers lay brown eggs except for one EE who lays a green egg. They are enclosed in a big run so there is no place for her to hide the eggs. I keep telling them to give her more time. Hopefully, they will be collecting big blue eggs soon!

Edited to add that they have also been giving them 2 hours of extra light every day for the past several months so light is not an issue.

 

[ronott1]

Ok for those who I was harping on about b shots for fertility its a multi b (the same ones for human fertility) and it is by size.

Here is the quote the first bird she is talking about is turkeys.

joe is pretty sure I was doing 1/2 mill for the younger girls and 3/4 for the older. He and Alex did 1/4 mill for each chicken hen. Use very small gauge needles even though it's much harder to draw. Less painful and less likely for any complications."

Im going to try this and see if it helps. It should help with hatchablity as well.

@capayvalleychick may need to do something like this for pullet W27. She has been mating but so far this year she has not had one egg develop. Every hatch I have to pull every egg.

Is there something that causes the B vitamin deficiency? Is it something to do with metabolism? Will fermented feed help with this too?

 

[casportpony]

Ive asked this on the phoenix thread but got no answer. is there any reason two year old phoenix hens wouldnt be laying? they have layer feed, they get leftover food scraps,have nesting boxes,etc. they did have lice but i got rid of them

I'm no expert, but the feedstore I go to had some and they laid very few eggs. I have one hen, guess she's about 3 years old and I don't think she's laying anymore, maybe got 6 eggs from her last year?

-Kathy

 

[sewandgrow]

I've always noticed the same feather pattern and posted pictures of it once, let me see if I can find them. I've found it to be true in all breeds. I first noticed it about 35 years ago when raising meat chicks.

Yes they are and they are black through and through, meat, bones, organs.......... Now, I can hardly wait out the days until the first candling. At least the eggs are light colored so I don't have to deal with dark colored eggs to try to see through.

no they are just that way. They are personable birds and i had 1 bator chick hatch it died after 3 days of being lonely. Just before the duck hatched.

I had that happen too, just this week. A lone survivor from the pens where a let the Mama go broody. It didn't like being in the brooder alone I am sure.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Quote: Just going to add something here,

This may not be useful, as we all know how Silkies are..

, but I have a Silkie hen who is almost 4 years old, and she has never laid an egg. She's not an internal layer, and she doesn't hide her eggs. She just doesn't lay.

I've searched all over for the cause, but have found nothing.

 

[lawatt]

Wow Laura, that is unusual. Campines are my absolute best layers. A huge egg from nearly every girl, nearly every day. They are the first to start in the spring, the last to quit in the winter and take the shortest break for molting.

If I was keeping a flock of just layers, they would be my go to birds.

isn't it odd? her sister is a great layer (although her eggs aren't huge yet, more medium-sized, but a beautiful pearly white) -- and i'll be interested to see how the female chicks i've hatched this spring, who are from her eggs crossed with a cockerel that came for your flock's eggs, will lay! i'm pretty sure i've hatched 8 girls and 4 boys, which is a nice ratio...

the one that doesn't lay also has the wrong color eyes & an "incorrect" comb, so no great loss in not having her as breeding stock -- and I don't feel right selling her to someone, since she's never laid ANY eggs and shows no sign of doing so. the cockerel doesn't even seem all that interested in mating with her, which is part of my guessing that she's of indeterminate gender rather than fully female -- very odd.

 

[ronott1]

Ive asked this on the phoenix thread but got no answer. is there any reason two year old phoenix hens wouldnt be laying? they have layer feed, they get leftover food scraps,have nesting boxes,etc. they did have lice but i got rid of them

Hi Nikki!

they are an Ornamental Breed and are not known to be good layers. They lay an egg a week on average. My guess is that they lay that egg a week in the spring.

Class: All Other Breeds
Type: Large Fowl & Bantam
Size: Small (4-5 lbs)
Rarity: Common
Purpose: Ornamental
Recognized Varieties: Silver, Gold

Egg Laying: Poor (1/wk)
Egg Color: Cream or Tinted
Egg Size: Medium

Red Pepper flakes and sprouted oats are supposed to increase laying. Maybe try giving them some. the red pepper is a small amount--a table spoon mixed into their feed.

Chickens do not have taste receptors for peppers, so they will not feel heat.

 

[chiqita]

@capayvalleychick
 may need to do something like this for pullet W27. She has been mating but so far this year she has not had one egg develop. Every hatch I have to pull every egg.

Is there something that causes the B vitamin deficiency? Is it something to do with metabolism? Will fermented feed help with this too?

I don't know! I know for women it is just you don't get an optimum amount for peak fertility in a reg diet and it helps things stay zippy. I know a lot of dr say we overdose with vitamins but its pretty common in prenatals. It is also supposed to help with viability. There is a lot of it in the big ol bird stuff. Flocks gets her info from old turkey people but she has a hatching service and if people get a lot of clears she makes them give a shot before bringing them back. She also has almost a 100% start rate on shipped midget eggs and that is insane they are not known for the hatchability.