Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[Arielle]

Quote: I have hens under lights now, and they are not laying, just a few are but not the majority. Most have finished molting. I have a good size light bulb in but I"m not getting the results I expected. SO I expect something is not quite right to be fully effective.

Would you expand on what you do for lighting??

 

[bnjrob]

I have hens under lights now, and they are not laying, just a few are but not the majority. Most have finished molting. I have a good size light bulb in but I"m not getting the results I expected. SO I expect something is not quite right to be fully effective.

Would you expand on what you do for lighting??

Right there with you. The pullets are laying but not the breeding hens that just finished molting. Put a light in their coop set to come on at 0445 and stay on for 5 hours. Between sunlight and the lamp they get about 12 hours of light since it gets dark at 1730 hours these days. Threw a fake egg back into the nest boxes to give them the hint, but so far nothing. The lights been on for almost two weeks. Not sure how long it is going to take them to clue in that they are getting enough light and need to start laying again.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I have hens under lights now, and they are not laying, just a few are but not the majority. Most have finished molting. I have a good size light bulb in but I"m not getting the results I expected. SO I expect something is not quite right to be fully effective.

Would you expand on what you do for lighting??

Arielle

Tell me about your lighting? How long are the natural light days where you are right now (sunrise to sunset per the weather channel). How long have you been adding light?

What I do, normally about Thanksgiving, is to set my lights to come on at about 530am and off at 800am. This gives them about 12 1/2 hours of light. The following week, I move it back to 500am, off at 800am....giving them 13 hours. I keep it steady at that point through my hatching season....it often takes 2-3 weeks to see a significant change in laying. Make certain your males are exposed to the increased light as well. I have 3 breeding pens all run off the same timer....so lighting is exactly the same in each, every day. Hope this helps.

Let me know how you are doing things and perhaps I can help you "tweak" your setup

Thanks

Scott

 

[brahmabreeder]

Not sure when you plan to start breeding, but I hatch all of my LF chicks in Dec, Jan, Feb (winter hatching for me = larger finished birds). If you breed during this period I find that males need supplemental lighting to insure fertility as much as females need light for egg laying.

Personally, I dont feed anything supplemental

Yeah I was going to start now and then quit in March so the hens aren't torn up for the show in June. I have a light in there and I *think* I have it on for 14 or 16 hours a day

 

[brahmabreeder]

I have hens under lights now, and they are not laying, just a few are but not the majority. Most have finished molting. I have a good size light bulb in but I"m not getting the results I expected. SO I expect something is not quite right to be fully effective.

Would you expand on what you do for lighting??

You could try Cayenne pepper. I did this last year for two hens who didn't lay the entire breeding season but then after a week of cayenne pepper they both popped eggs out on the same day! I just put a tablespoon or two in the feed every day. I'm doing it right now with my breeder coop along with the lighting to get laying into gear. The hope is that I won't be behind like I was last year.

 

[3riverschick]

Alright thanks. I think my plan of action for next year is feed all chicks hatched out a 20% starter feed until they are probably 6-8 months old. Then switch to the all flock( I think ours is 20% but it might be 18% ). About a month or two before shows add manna pro conditioner plus maybe calf manna and BOSS to get those Brahma nice and bulky. Should I supplement anything in for breeding season( mines starting as soon as they start laying )?

Well, I have nothing to add except that that historically sprouted forage oats have been proven to help bring hens into lay and help the males create more robust sperm to in turn help create more robust chicks. The oats should be forage oats rather than feed oats.... and between 4 and 7 days old, fed as "green feed". 1 cubic inch per bird per day. Many ways to sprout them, easy too. See these pages 24 thru 29 of this BYC thread for complete info, hows and whys:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
Best,
Karen

 

[Zanna]

You can't go wrong with a cabinet GQF incubator.

I hatch in a Genesis 1588 from GQF.

Will you be hatching for New Years Day?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/835798/5th-annual-byc-new-years-day-2014-hatch-a-long

Don't know if I will be able to time it but setting up initial breeding pens this weekend for some of my New Hampshires and Black Copper Marans. I have some of Kathyinmos F'4 Dels hatched first week of April and none of them are laying yet and the boys just very recently started crowing and acting frisky. Super anxious and excited about getting going with them. Of course it is always if the chickens are willing

 

[kimberly35042]

Quote:
Karen, I've heard that forage/seed oats for a deer plot are chemically treated. Why would you not use regular feed oats? They sprout just fine when I overseed the yard with rye and oats for forage for the geese for the winter. Haven't read the label, but certainly would before deciding which to use. Just my thoughts as I'm too lazy to grow sprouts when they grow fine in the yard and last longer

 

[Zanna]

If you'll keep an eye on craigslist, you might find one there occasionally!! Darn things aren't cheap and shipping cost from Ga to Oregon is probably a little $$ too.

SAVE the 1588s to use as hatchers!!! That's what I did with mine.....incubate in the Sportsman (or other large machine), hatch in the smaller one for staggered hatches

Yes I have been watching Craigslist. I can't imagine what shipping will be but Christmas is coming so we shall see! Once in a while GQF will offer free shipping but on that big of an item I doubt it.

One of my 1588's is already a designated hatcher (an older model) so the other will become one as well. Will help with keeping things separated as I currently only single mate.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Yes I have been watching Craigslist. I can't imagine what shipping will be but Christmas is coming so we shall see! Once in a while GQF will offer free shipping but on that big of an item I doubt it.

One of my 1588's is already a designated hatcher (an older model) so the other will become one as well. Will help with keeping things separated as I currently only single mate.

Zanna

I built a "divider" using 1/4" vinyl coated wire so I can hatch multiple pens in the same hatcher (I single breed also) . This way, I toe punch all those that were outside the divider.....then open the divider and toe punch those

I also built a larger one to use in the hatching tray of the Sportsman so I can hatch as many as 6 pens at a time