First time chicken owner !

[AviatorChicken]

Hello BYC peeps. My name is Sam. Im from Wayne, NJ. I built my own coop. Its 4ft x 6Ft. Run is 5ft High 5 ft wide an 26 feet long.
I purchased 3 pullets from Big Dog Farms and then 4 more Pullets from Jackson NJ. Heres a list

Black Australorp 16 weeks
White Delaware 16 weeks
New Hampshire Red 16 weeks
Plymouth Barred Rock 16 weeks
Copper Maran 15 weeks
Araucana 12 weeks
Ameraucana 26 weeks....only 1 laying light blue eggs. lays 1 egg every 3rd day

I've had chickens for 2 weeks and they free range everyday. Finally they are getting used to me,wife an d kids.
Pics to come soon

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Congrats on your flock! Sounds like you have a lot of great breeds. I'm glad hey are getting used to you and your family.

Feel free to ask any questions. Glad you joined!

 

[AviatorChicken]

Well, here's my first question. My chicks free range and eat a lot of egg layers/ purina pullets non medicated and cooked rice an pasta.
They have plenty water, food and play area. Why is my Curly, 26 week old only laying every 3 days ? Should she lay every 26 hours ?
I have 3 nesting boxing in coop. Nesting boxes are 14x15 by 16 high. first left box has pine wood shaving, 3 eggs layer there. the middle one has soft straw in it. they spin it around buy don't lay in it. last box on right has a mixture of soft straw and pine shavings. only used couple times for sleeping by youngest pullet.

Sam

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You have a nice mix of breeds. I've been raising Black Australorps since 1979, and they are my favorite standard breed; extremely hardy, calm and gentle, and excellent layers of large brown eggs. If you decide to get any more chickens, you should seriously think about expanding the size of your coop. The minimum recommended floor space for the coop is 4 sq. ft. per bird, and you are already pushing a little over the limit. Overcrowding can quickly lead to aggression, fights, feather plucking, and even cannibalism. The recommended run space is 10 sq. ft. of ground space per bird, so you are in very good shape there.Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.

 

[Michael OShay]

Well, here's my first question. My chicks free range and eat a lot of egg layers/ purina pullets non medicated and cooked rice an pasta.
They have plenty water, food and play area. Why is my Curly, 26 week old only laying every 3 days ? Should she lay every 26 hours ?

See the post I just put up. Overcrowding caused stress among hens which will reduce egg production. I would either thin out a couple of chickens or else expand the size of the coop some.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

X2 on Michael OShay's advice.

How long have you had the Ameraucana? Getting new chickens can also stress birds out, causing them to lay less. It may be that she is still getting used to her new surroundings. Also, do you know how long she's been laying? New layers may take their time and being irregular in their laying cycle.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

X3 on all the above advice. Sounds like your birds may be a bit crowded in your coop. Generally 4 to 5 square feet per bird is a good amount of space in the coop to prevent aggression. Birds go off on each other easily when cramped in. So if you start to see some arguing and fighting, you may need to expand on your coop. The run sounds like it sufficient in size.

As for your 26 week old layer....new layers need time to get their egg laying machines in gear and won't start to lay regular until they have matured more. And not every chicken lays every day. Some will lay every other day, and some even every 3 days. The less frequent they lay over all, the longer into old age they will lay. They only have so many yolks to lay so the quicker they lay them, the faster they are out of commission of laying.

Enjoy your wonderful flock and welcome to ours!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

TwoCrows and Wyandottes7 gave you great advice. Good luck with your chickens!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[arkansas55]

hello and welcome to our flock,you have been given some great advice,please make yourself at home and check out the new member forum