Do you ever wish your girls would just stop?

[gritsar]

According to the weather channel it's 94 degrees outside right now, with a heat index of 104. It's been this way for two weeks & no end in sight.
My chickens are dealing well with the heat, but I spend all day running back and forth between the brooder and the coop making sure my little ones and the big 'uns are cool enough and have fresh water.
I have 6 dozen eggs in the fridge right now and my 13 girls are laying an about 8 to 10 eggs a day. Need to call my egg customers tonight.
I wish the girls would take a break, but I don't know of any way to convince them to.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

Man I wish I was in your shoes with the eggs. Except for Robin the RIR none of my chickens are laying. Excluding Rusty the RIR roo and the 4 BR chicks.

 

[Katy]

There are times it would be nice if they had an egg laying on/off switch that we could control.

 

[chickenlady08]

I have been feeding my 30+ girls the grower finisher food and not the laying food. I don't want to force them to lay any more eggs than I am getting now. I want them to lay as long as they can instead of forcing them to lay them while they are young, they can lay on a slower pace and then retire to my retirement coops. some days I am gettin 2 dozen+ and good greif that is to much. but they do seem to lay less with this food. It has the same ingredients as the laying and I give grit and calcuim for them as extra just in case. The eggs are stong and they seem to be fine with it.

 

[LadyinRed]

During the winter I had the same problem from my silkies. Now they are all broody and I get 1 egg every other day if I'm lucky!! Send me some of them fresh already cooked from the heat eggs!!!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Okay Katy, you invent it and I'll patent it. Imagine a rooster you could turn off and on as needed.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Quote:
Okay Katy, you invent it and I'll patent it. Imagine a rooster you could turn off and on as needed.

I'm working on this myself. I've gotten the turn off part down pat. It's the turning back on part that I'm having trouble with.

 

[gritsar]

But seriously....I would rather they live to give me eggs another year than to die of heat stroke this year.

 

[smith2]

Quote:
What is grower finisher food? We only have chick starter around here, then 16% layer, 21% layer, and 28% game bird. And yes, there are some days I wish I could turn them off.

 

[chickenlady08]

Quote:
What is grower finisher food? We only have chick starter around here, then 16% layer, 21% layer, and 28% game bird. And yes, there are some days I wish I could turn them off.

It is the in between stage of food from starter and layer. I guess some people keep theirs on the starter food. I think the protein maybe a little less. I just know that ever since I got my babies last year i gave them the starter I think like 8 weeks (might be 12 weeks) and then went to the grower/finisher food. (this may be what they use if they are going to process their birds) and they stay on that until they go to the layer food at say 17 weeks. I prob have the weeks all messed up because you can keep them on the starter I guess I just never did because my family owned livestock supply reccommened it to me as they use it for theirs and have had chickens for years and know a whole lot about them. Sorry I didnt really have an accurate answer for you but maybe you may understand a little better.