Hi,
My friend and I both purchased RIR's that are the same age and from the same source. I am one of those "annoying" people that has to follow the directions to the "letter" and I kept my chicks on chick starter to the age of 8 weeks and then switched to chick grower for an additional 10 weeks. The chicks are now 19 weeks old and I started them on layer pellets about a week ago. I never let them run out of food.
My friend, however, was feeding them layer crumbles from an early age. I haven't seen his chicks lately but he tells me that they look like they could start laying any day. He tells me their combs became much larger and redder and they just act like they want to lay.
I have 4 chicks and the combs on two of them have enlarged slightly and darkened in color a bit (nothing drastic). The other two show no signs of development on the combs. They are very small and still also a very light pink. I wouldn't consider any of them ready to lay.
I'm wondering if I did something wrong. Has anyone else noticed anything like this? Thanks! Genie
My friend and I both purchased RIR's that are the same age and from the same source. I am one of those "annoying" people that has to follow the directions to the "letter" and I kept my chicks on chick starter to the age of 8 weeks and then switched to chick grower for an additional 10 weeks. The chicks are now 19 weeks old and I started them on layer pellets about a week ago. I never let them run out of food.
My friend, however, was feeding them layer crumbles from an early age. I haven't seen his chicks lately but he tells me that they look like they could start laying any day. He tells me their combs became much larger and redder and they just act like they want to lay.
I have 4 chicks and the combs on two of them have enlarged slightly and darkened in color a bit (nothing drastic). The other two show no signs of development on the combs. They are very small and still also a very light pink. I wouldn't consider any of them ready to lay.
I'm wondering if I did something wrong. Has anyone else noticed anything like this? Thanks! Genie