...Come on girls

TaraBellaBirds

Songster
6 Years
Jul 13, 2013
1,975
281
198
SW Kansas
So my older flock is 21 weeks consisting of RIR, white rock, buff orph. and Black JGiants.. They are hatchery birds and I know they are still very young. Most of the pullets combs have been red for awhile now, but I have yet to hear any music from them yet! Four days ago I found a shell-less egg under their roost.......and nothing more....My patience is running a bit low
rant.gif
.

Any stories to share to bide the time.....

Some of my girls......



I'm thinking Delaware.... maybe?
 
I understand your impatience.

Considering the development of mine, I don't understand how some people have birds who are ready to lay at 17 weeks. My oldest are 18 weeks and they don't have the big combs and waddles I see on other people's birds who are 16 weeks. What little bit of comb/waddles they have are pink and not red. They aren't squatting, the could give a flip about a nest, lol! I'm not sure if they're younger than they were said to be or what but seeing other birds develop so much more quickly I think that adds to the feeling of impatience.

My dominique has been talking more. I don't know if it's due to getting closer to lay or if it's because of the new birds that she can see. She's been walking around making that long extended clucking noise like "Whrrrrrrrrrrrrr....whrrrrrrrrrr." I went ahead and set up the nest box with a golf ball. Who knows what'll happen.
idunno.gif
 
So my older flock is 21 weeks consisting of RIR, white rock, buff orph. and Black JGiants.. They are hatchery birds and I know they are still very young. Most of the pullets combs have been red for awhile now, but I have yet to hear any music from them yet! Four days ago I found a shell-less egg under their roost.......and nothing more....My patience is running a bit low
rant.gif
.

Any stories to share to bide the time.....

Some of my girls......



I'm thinking Delaware.... maybe?
The middle pic looks like my Columbian Wyandotte not a Delaware. She looks like she may be ready to lay, at least her wattles/comb
looks similar to mine and mine are 25 weeks old now. Your BO or White Rock don't look ready but thats just based on other pics I've seen. I don't have any. The RIR in the last pic looks about ready too. Do they squat for you?

I have a mixed flock of 13 chickens and had one RIR and one EE start laying at just over 18 weeks and others started around 20-22 weeks. My 2 Australorp's, which everyone says lay early, didn't start until about 23 weeks old! One EE and one Buff Brahma still aren't laying but I think the rest are. The short answer they're all different and will lay when they are ready
wink.png

But I know, it's so hard to wait!!!
Also, do they free range? If so, they could be laying somewhere outside and you haven't found the eggs. But if you found one shell-less egg I'm sure you'll find some good ones soon.
Good luck and you'll be so excited when you find that first good egg it will make the wait worthwhile!!
 
The middle pic looks like my Columbian Wyandotte not a Delaware. She looks like she may be ready to lay, at least her wattles/comb
looks similar to mine and mine are 25 weeks old now. Your BO or White Rock don't look ready but thats just based on other pics I've seen. I don't have any. The RIR in the last pic looks about ready too. Do they squat for you?

I have a mixed flock of 13 chickens and had one RIR and one EE start laying at just over 18 weeks and others started around 20-22 weeks. My 2 Australorp's, which everyone says lay early, didn't start until about 23 weeks old! One EE and one Buff Brahma still aren't laying but I think the rest are. The short answer they're all different and will lay when they are ready
wink.png

But I know, it's so hard to wait!!!
Also, do they free range? If so, they could be laying somewhere outside and you haven't found the eggs. But if you found one shell-less egg I'm sure you'll find some good ones soon.
Good luck and you'll be so excited when you find that first good egg it will make the wait worthwhile!!
Thanks Nancy. Yes my birds do free range in a wooded area behind my house (not a huge space, think one city lot). I have checked in all of the areas that they hang out as well as some more secluded that look like nice spots. I checked out some Col. Wyandotte pics and she has all of the traits including that ugly comb! She has a horrible attitude so I hope she's a good layer so she can redeem herself LOL! I just checked the coop this morning and STILL nothing, grrrr. I just bought a dozen eggs at the store and I hope that is the last one I'll ever have to buy!!!
 
Hens coming of age at this time of year are going to be slower about starting to lay than birds hatched in the early spring. Also at this time of year the total hours of daylight is waning and hens lay in response to the total number of hours of daylight and whether the hours of daylight are waxing or waning. This is the reason eggs are associated with spring. 13 or more hours of light is best to encourage a hen to lay. About the 20th of this month will be the first day of Autumn when there will be only be 12 hours of daylight but 12 hours of darkness. This puts the breaks on egg production but doesn't stop it because centuries and centuries ago we humans discovered how to breed chickens that violate their basic nature..
 
Hens coming of age at this time of year are going to be slower about starting to lay than birds hatched in the early spring. Also at this time of year the total hours of daylight is waning and hens lay in response to the total number of hours of daylight and whether the hours of daylight are waxing or waning. This is the reason eggs are associated with spring. 13 or more hours of light is best to encourage a hen to lay. About the 20th of this month will be the first day of Autumn when there will be only be 12 hours of daylight but 12 hours of darkness. This puts the breaks on egg production but doesn't stop it because centuries and centuries ago we humans discovered how to breed chickens that violate their basic nature..
Good to know. I am hoping I have enough heavy breeds that I still get some eggs during the winter.
 
Thanks Nancy. Yes my birds do free range in a wooded area behind my house (not a huge space, think one city lot). I have checked in all of the areas that they hang out as well as some more secluded that look like nice spots. I checked out some Col. Wyandotte pics and she has all of the traits including that ugly comb! She has a horrible attitude so I hope she's a good layer so she can redeem herself LOL! I just checked the coop this morning and STILL nothing, grrrr. I just bought a dozen eggs at the store and I hope that is the last one I'll ever have to buy!!!
LOL!
Keep checking!! Also, mine lay all day long. I've had some lay an egg as late at 7p.m! It makes it fun to go out all day and find an egg or 2.
As far as your CW's attitude... I found the closer to laying they got the friendlier they got. They become more talkative to me and follow me around. I don't have a rooster so I don't know if that's part of the reason why though. My CW is toward the bottom of the pecking order so she's not to bad. Keep us posted.
caf.gif
 
Nothing this morning. I'm thinking it was either a fluke or they are laying somewhere I haven't looked. Considering I have walked ALL OVER the area where they hang out I am stumped. I did notice last night that my CW wondered off and it was about 15/20 min before she come back to the coop for the goodies I brought out! To NotableNancey, she is lower on the pecking order but she and the JGiants just growl and grumble at me when I am out there. Does anyone know why they do that?
 
I totally get the impatience. Mine are about 25 going on 26 weeks old and only my australorp has begun to lay. And she only started laying 3 days ago! She has faithfully laid an egg each morning (before 8 am) since then though and I have to say the egg collecting is worth the wait LOL I'm not sure if it will grow old or not, but I have sincerely enjoyed the 'surprise' each morning. Hang in there!
hugs.gif
Just keep an eye out for signs they're getting ready..like comb reddening, squatting, and egg song making!!
smile.png
 
Update:
Still no eggs, not even another shell-less. We culled our Roos, which are set for the freezer Saturday. This has drastically changed the temperament of my flock which still has three BJG Roos. So hopefully the calmer flock will get them to start producing! Just playing, Wait and see.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom