- Apr 11, 2013
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Hi Everyone,
What a great site!! I've referred to it for everything from coop design to nutrition. It's a wealth of information!!
Anyway, I'm a first-timer. I got my girls as chicks last year in October. I have a flock of 7...4 Blue Wyandottes, 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and 1 bantam, a Golden Sebright. I got the Wyandottes because I read that they were very docile and have good personalities. I probably wouldn't have gotten the bantam had I realized what breed she was but my kids were with me when I got them all and they picked her out. Actually, now I'm glad I got her because she has an incredible personality and is the most curious of all of them. For that matter, they all have very cool personalities!!
At first I was letting them roam the backyard but they kept hanging out at the back door and pooping all over the patio so I made a run for them attached to their coop. They now have about 130 square feet to call home. I'm hoping that's enough.
I feed them an 18% organic layer crumble, some scratch, cracked corn, oyster shell and grit. I also put out some alfalfa hay and they seem to love to nibble on the leaves. I feed them the crumble twice a day (morning and evening) and give them some scratch and cracked corn during the day. I have a bowl of oyster shell and grit for them as they need it. Am I missing anything?
If egg production is any indication of how well they're doing, I think they're happy as clams!! They've been laying now for about 6 weeks now. They started out a little slow but now they're up to 5 or 6 a day!! Last week they gave us 38 eggs!!!
Even the bantam is laying 5 or 6 a week!! We've even had several that were double yolks! And, I guess this is what it's all about....the eggs are REALLY tasty!!
OK, now for a couple of questions. Not including the bantam's eggs, the eggs size from the rest of the girls has varied dramatically. One or two of them lay some gigantic eggs and have typically been the double yoked ones. I'd say about 30 to 40% or so is what I would consider medium eggs or larger which is what I would expect from the breed with what I've read on here and other sites, the rest though, are pretty small. I know that young layers tend to lay smaller eggs at first and that patience is a virtue but is there anything I can do help them produce larger eggs? Also, there have been several soft shelled eggs that have been produced too. In the last 2 weeks there have been at least half dozen of them. I'm not sure which one of the girls is having the problem either. Am I missing something in their diet?
OK, I've rambled enough about the girls so thanks in advance for taking a look at my post and any suggestions for the girls will be greatly appreciated!!
What a great site!! I've referred to it for everything from coop design to nutrition. It's a wealth of information!!
Anyway, I'm a first-timer. I got my girls as chicks last year in October. I have a flock of 7...4 Blue Wyandottes, 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and 1 bantam, a Golden Sebright. I got the Wyandottes because I read that they were very docile and have good personalities. I probably wouldn't have gotten the bantam had I realized what breed she was but my kids were with me when I got them all and they picked her out. Actually, now I'm glad I got her because she has an incredible personality and is the most curious of all of them. For that matter, they all have very cool personalities!!
At first I was letting them roam the backyard but they kept hanging out at the back door and pooping all over the patio so I made a run for them attached to their coop. They now have about 130 square feet to call home. I'm hoping that's enough.
I feed them an 18% organic layer crumble, some scratch, cracked corn, oyster shell and grit. I also put out some alfalfa hay and they seem to love to nibble on the leaves. I feed them the crumble twice a day (morning and evening) and give them some scratch and cracked corn during the day. I have a bowl of oyster shell and grit for them as they need it. Am I missing anything?
If egg production is any indication of how well they're doing, I think they're happy as clams!! They've been laying now for about 6 weeks now. They started out a little slow but now they're up to 5 or 6 a day!! Last week they gave us 38 eggs!!!
OK, now for a couple of questions. Not including the bantam's eggs, the eggs size from the rest of the girls has varied dramatically. One or two of them lay some gigantic eggs and have typically been the double yoked ones. I'd say about 30 to 40% or so is what I would consider medium eggs or larger which is what I would expect from the breed with what I've read on here and other sites, the rest though, are pretty small. I know that young layers tend to lay smaller eggs at first and that patience is a virtue but is there anything I can do help them produce larger eggs? Also, there have been several soft shelled eggs that have been produced too. In the last 2 weeks there have been at least half dozen of them. I'm not sure which one of the girls is having the problem either. Am I missing something in their diet?
OK, I've rambled enough about the girls so thanks in advance for taking a look at my post and any suggestions for the girls will be greatly appreciated!!
