How long does moulting take???

[bkreugar]

I have 28 chickens of various ages.Only 2 are mature hens.Both laid an egg a day for my 6out of 7 days. First mid August one slowed down and then quit and now the other one has quit too. So i get NO eggs for 28 chickens. I have kept them locked IN the coop with food and water from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. still no eggs. I have locked one in and not the other to see if I had an egg eater.Still no eggs.

So I guess since this is there second fall they are doing a full moult? They are losing feathers, so how long will this take? I am none too pleased to be feeding this many and STILL buying eggs from the store.Blech!

My other poulets were hatched on June 10th so I am thinking I should see a few more eggs from them by the end of October.

Any wisdom?

 

[Imp]

I think molt varies. In 6 years I've never had chickens go through a "full" molt, just lose feathers for a few weeks. Never looked scruffy. Also egg laying never dropped. But that's not most peoples experience. Maybe d/t the mild weather we get here in the Seattle area.
Also expecting eggs in October from pullets hatched in mid-June may be a little optimistic, could happen. Last year I bought a 3 and 4 month old pullets in mid june. Both started laying in December. Are you planning artificial light as the days get shorter?

Good Luck

Imp

 

[bkreugar]

Imp I am in central nc and I have temprete weather.I figured they were molting because they are losong feathers. This would be there second fall.

As to getting eggs from my pullets your breaking my heart!!! I started with red and black sex link.they layed between 16-20 weeks (all 6).Now I have 2 frizzle girls,a silver laced wynadotte, 5 silkies (not sure how many are girls) 4 barred rocks and 5 mutts.The rest are known roos and my 2 mature girls.

SO i was SURE someone would lay between 16-20 weeks like my sex links.You don't think so?

All my guys now are on layer mix veggie scraps and free range 12 hours a day.

I started locking these 2 girls in because I thought MAYBE they were laying somewhere else.But I am still not getting eggs.They aren't missing lots of feathers but a few and don't have mites or worms that I have seen and I HAVE looked.

What am I missing?

 

[birdsofthefarm]

bout a month or 2

 

[Imp]

Hmmm, your farther south than me so light shouldn't be as big an issue. The consensus is that chickens need 14 hours a day to lay well.
As far as the time to start laying, maybe mine were slow I was expecting in Oct or Nov. started getting eggs from them both second week of December.
On the up side, someone posted last week that they started getting eggs at 12 weeks. I think I've mostly seen 16-24 weeks, so out of 28 I'm gonna predict some will start laying soon.
Is it possible that something is eating the eggs? Sounds like you are watching closely, unlikely huh?

Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that you start getting eggs soon.

Imp- And it doesn't sound like you're missing anything