This past Sunday (7/17) my youngest daughter went out to the chicken coop to check on the ladies and discovered our first egg!
She was so excited and came running the the house with it. We were all excited and it has been sitting in a special dish on the counter. However, since then, we have not had anymore eggs from any of the ladies.
Now for a little background. I have 8 chickens. 5 Black Star Sex Linked and they are approx 17 weeks old. I have 3 Americaunas that are approx. 16 weeks. My two daughters and I went out of town last Thursday for my oldest one's softball tournament and left DH to tend to chickens, but knew he wouldn't bother with them much, so I made sure they had plenty of fresh water and food before we left. So, needless to say, discovering the egg on Sunday doesn't mean someone layed the egg that day. It could have been any day between Friday and Sunday since I checked on them on Thursday before I left. I have noticed several of the nest boxes have been disturbed and looks like someone has tried nesting in them, but we haven't had an egg since. So, is there something I should be doing to help them along?
They have still been eating the grower/finisher food since I read here that there is no reason to give the layer food until they start to lay. I did buy some layer food on Sunday and mixed some in with the grower/finisher food, but didn't want to do too much if the other girls, who are younger, don't need it yet. Not really sure what to do. So, any ideas about the lack of eggs or if I should give one or the other or both feeds would be helpful. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Now for a little background. I have 8 chickens. 5 Black Star Sex Linked and they are approx 17 weeks old. I have 3 Americaunas that are approx. 16 weeks. My two daughters and I went out of town last Thursday for my oldest one's softball tournament and left DH to tend to chickens, but knew he wouldn't bother with them much, so I made sure they had plenty of fresh water and food before we left. So, needless to say, discovering the egg on Sunday doesn't mean someone layed the egg that day. It could have been any day between Friday and Sunday since I checked on them on Thursday before I left. I have noticed several of the nest boxes have been disturbed and looks like someone has tried nesting in them, but we haven't had an egg since. So, is there something I should be doing to help them along?
They have still been eating the grower/finisher food since I read here that there is no reason to give the layer food until they start to lay. I did buy some layer food on Sunday and mixed some in with the grower/finisher food, but didn't want to do too much if the other girls, who are younger, don't need it yet. Not really sure what to do. So, any ideas about the lack of eggs or if I should give one or the other or both feeds would be helpful. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.