Cream Legbar hen layed first 2 eggs, then has not layed for a week! Why?

[GrammyJean]

My Cream Legbar hen layed her first (pretty blue) egg, and the next day layed a 2nd one. But, since then, she has not layed at all for a solid week! What could be wrong? I have not noticed this behavior in any of my other hens at all.... although none of the others are Cream Legbars. Any ideas? Will they be building up inside and harm her? Help, please?

 

[PrairieChickens]

Nothing's wrong--she's just a newbie. As her body works out a rhythm, she'll become more consistent with her egg laying, but it would be far more surprising this early on if it WASN'T irregular.

 

[Sweepy]

Right there with you. I'm at 14 days since getting a 2nd egg from my 5 mo old Dominique. People keep saying that first efforts are all over the place and that's ssinf days is normal as she works out the kinks in her egg laying. But no one has said at what point I should just turn her into a meatie. Keep me posted.

 

[GrammyJean]

Still no 3rd egg...

I am just loaded with questions. LOL I have been raising hens for 3 years now, but BillyBoy is my first rooster. I got this "breeding pair" of Cream Legbars, and named them "Bill Gates and Martha Stewart" i.e. 'my little money makers' because their chicks sell for a pretty penny! LOL

I have kept them penned together away from the rest of my flock with their own little house, because I don't want to have to candle all my eggs ... but I'm not even sure if I have to look for fertilized eggs if I remove them every day and put them into the refrigerator? I looked in my Storey's book but it says wait until the hen has been on them about 4 days before candling... and it sounds like the candling is to be sure the embryo is still alive, etc. Absolutely NO experience breeding, or even having a rooster.

Most people with big flocks have several roos, and surely they don't candle each egg every day before they carton them to sell.... do they?

 

[PrairieChickens]

If you are collecting eggs every day or a few times a day, there's no point in candling them. Candling will only tell you if an egg is fertilized after about day 7 (if the egg is being actively incubated) when you can actually see the beginning development of the embryo. The only way to tell if an egg has been fertilized on day 1 is to crack it open and look for a tiny white dot on the yolk. If the dot is just a dot, the egg wasn't fertilized, but if it's a bullseye shape, it was. This serves little use except to satisfy one's curiosity, as once you crack the egg open, it doesn't matter if the egg was fertilized or not. At that point, all that egg can become is breakfast.

We have 7 mature roosters, and nearly every egg we collect is fertilized. However, even eggs left out at room temperature for several days never develop beyond the blastoderm (bullseye dot), because they are not being incubated and the conditions aren't favorable for development. The eggs are in a sort of stasis, waiting for a broody to decide to sit them. So the short answer is, no, you don't need to candle your eggs, even if you have roosters mingling with your flock.

 

[GrammyJean]

Thank you so much! That is very helpful. In that case I see no reason to keep my "breeding pair" of cream legbars penned separately from all the other hens, do you?

Unless... maybe BillyBoy would choose his 'harem' from the other hens and NOT choose Martha, the Cream Legbar Hen.... I want fertilized eggs from HER. LOL I don't know if she will hatch them or not, but don't really care, because I have a Golden Laced Wyandotte named Maggie Ann that goes broody several time each year, and also a golden or buff colored Cochin named Frenchie (because she's a big 'hussy' who comes up & squats to be petted. LOL) who also goes broody, and I can put her eggs under one of them.

I have twice sneaked chicks a few days old that I got from the feed store underneath Maggie Ann at night, one or two at a time over a few days and she raised them very well. She protected them from the other hens and, in fact, Frenchy is one she raised. The only chicks that Maggie Ann refused to accept and 'mother', were a pair of Campine chicks and an African.... maybe their coloring? All 3 had nearly the same dark brown/gold mottled coloring.... that's all I can come up with....

I'm SO glad I don't have to 'candle' any more freshly laid eggs! LOL

 

[PrairieChickens]

I wouldn't worry about your roo losing interest in his mate. If she wants to mate with him, she will, as a rooster will happily breed with as many willing hens who will let him. In addition, a rooster's sperm remains viable in the hen's system for weeks, so he would only have to mate her once in that time to fertilize those eggs. If you're concerned and haven't seen them mate, crack open one of her eggs after the flock has been mingled for a few weeks and see if it has the tell-tale bullseye. If it's fertile, then you can put your mind at ease--he hasn't lost interest in his girl.