chickens not laying yet

[welshchickens]

Hi, I notice most people on here seem to be from USA, I hope you don't mind someone from Wales joining you.

I am very new to this chicken thing, we have had ours for four weeks now - well one was killed by the dog unfortunately, so we replaced it with another - so really that is three for four weeks and one for three weeks.

On last Wednesday and Thurday we had two eggs laid each day - the first ones!!! - but since then we have only one egg a day, we don't know which chicken is laying it. Is there any way to tell which chicken has laid and any ideas when we are likely to expect all of them to lay.

When we bought them we bought 'ponit of lay' so I would think they were about 18 weeks old when we got them.

Any advice on how to raise chickens would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[welshchickens]

one other thing - I have noticed that the comb on one of the chicken has now got black tips is that normal? Thanks again

 

[teach1rusl]

Welcome to you from the state of Indiana! Do you know the breeds of your chickens??? That will help with knowing how often they lay, and the color of the eggs (light brown vs dark brown, creamy brown, etc). Some folks have used a dropper to place a few drops of food coloring (different color for each bird) in the vent area of the chickens so that when an eggs comes out, it would be streaked with that color. Of my five chickens, 4 are brown egg layers. By simply observing them (spend time on a weekend) during laying time, I can now easily identify my eggs and give credit to the appropriate bird...lol. Obviously someone who has a LOT of chickens couldn't do that, but with only four it will probably be easy to learn. Many early layers lay a bit sporadically...you may even get a few soft shelled or shelless eggs over the first few weeks. But they will settle into a pattern soon enough, and you'll learn their pattern. That's the benefit of having a small flock...
My BA developed black tips on her comb; I never worried about it. Now if she starts getting black splotchy looking areas, THAT I would worry about. Enjoy your hens!

 

[welshchickens]

Thank you very much for your advice - I expect I will need a lot more of it in the next few weeks. Perhaps I am just going to have to learn to be a bit more patient with them and keep my fingers crossed!