How long is average molt? NO eggs from my 2 yr old hens for 6 weeks.

[Happy Chooks]

To the OP - my birds generally take about 3 months from the start of the molt to laying eggs again. Some go a little quicker, some a little slower. You can increase their protein to help them along. I just purchased some dried mealworms for mine for a treat - they are 58% protein.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Ah, thanks Happy Chooks! I was hoping somebody would chime in with at least a rough time frame! 3 months is a long time to wait, but at least we're already halfway through it! Here's to hoping it's not more than that, and could even be less if I get them a little high octane feed.

p.s. mealworms kinda sound gross, but I bet the hens would looove them, and at 58% protein, it might just be worth it! I'll see what the feed store has to offer.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Last winter I had a bantam cochin not lay for over 4 months!! I'm not sure how old she was, she was in our care for at least 2 years and we got her from the feed store already grown. She was constantly trying to hatch eggs(unfertile and I didnt have secure enough coops yet and too many preditors to let her hatch any). well she was broody in fall, broke her of it, she layed about 2 dozen more eggs and then stopped for the whole winter. Started up in spring again and hatched the first clutch she layed.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
No problem! I log all my eggs into a spreadsheet and most of my layers I can tell who laid by the color or shape of the egg.

The mealworms are dried, so they are dead. I couldn't do icky live ones - too many heebie jeebies for me. Amazon has them on sale right now. They wanted almost $20 at the feed store for a small package - at Amazon I got a much larger container for $13 with shipping.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Great tip--I love Amazon! I'll check there first. And dried sounds ever so much more doable than live. Whew. And I'm impressed by the spreadsheet. With only three hens, I can pretty much tell who layed what (since one is an EE, I just have to sort out the other two), and I used to try to keep a written log by the door, but I couldn't stay on top of it. You're good!

CrazyCatNChickenLady--4 months! Oy! I'm glad she came back around in spring and gave you some chicks to boot.

 

[Barbs Organic Garden]

I get new peeps shipped every year. My oldest are 4 surviving Buff Orpingtons hatched in April 2008. I don't know how many eggs they are laying, although I suspect theirs are the jumbo, sometimes with wrinkled shells, once in a while membrane-only large ones. How long can I expect any eggs from them? How long will they live if I just keep feeding them in gratitude for their past contributions?

One of them has growths all over her legs that appear to be deformed pilings up of the skin scales that normal legs are covered with. Is this harmful? Painfull? A reason I couldn't eat her if I butchered her? I'd be grateful for any information.

 

[roxysly]

Thank you so much for answers to my questions.

......lynn1961Chillin' With My Peeps

Well, now I'm super concerned.... Please provide additional thoughts to my concerns.

First I found blood on 3 eggs two days ago..and now one of my smaller plym rcks has lost almost a third of her feathers. Her entire neck is exposed and bottom exposed with tons of spiny new black shafts with baby feathers.... Keeping in mind that you said they shouldn't molt for at least a 1yr, should I be concerned this means illness for her?

I have to add that they are all very healthy eaters, so when i give them a treat by hand they all take part, so none of them are showing a disinterest in food. Additionally they seem to be moving about and keep regular habits up till now no change in behaviors that I've noticed yet.

Also being told they shouldn't lay so many eggs so early, my pullets started laying regularly at 5 months, Should this be a huge concern?....I got them in begining of march and first egg was July and 1st two weeks following 8 to 12 eggs a day. Now since the cold set in a couple weeks ago they have dropped production to only 6 eggs per day, with the discovery of the bloody ones.

Now when I first got them outside, they started with a light heat lamp in a very large coop. They seemed to fine with it on 24 hours a day, it is a light (that provides heat but it is not the red light). Recently, we had an electrical problem that left them in the dark for a month and 3 days ago my son fixed it so the light is back on. I felt this was necessary since their water was frozen 3 mornings in a row. ...Do you think this problem and change has screwed with them causing her to loose feathers?

Now lastly I think I'm guilty of over feeding them, with additional scraps...scoop of cracked corn every other day. Always fresh scraps, like yogurt, plain pasta, corn tortillas ,whole wheat bread, and hard boiled eggs with clean crushed dryed shells(to supplement gritt)..sometimes sunflower seeds.
Do you think the way I've been feeding them is hurting them? They don't seem fat. Especially my two white skinny leghorns.... please advise what is ok and how much is ok of additional cracked corn and healthy table scraps ?

They also have plenty of fresh water and their feeder is always filled with the layer crumbled feed proper feed from Wilco.

If one is egg bound and I need to feel gently around abdomin, Where is the abdomin, obvioiusly front just before the legs, or higher up where their lump is? Might seem like a stupid question but I thought that my lopsided pullets had a tumor before I realized that was where all their food went, the lump is gone in the morning and then it starts all over again.

Thanks again to all in advance for taking the time. I will surely be saddened if Sally-Jean dies. They are my very favorite pets and all have names...and keep me very entertained as well as providing me with tons of eggs.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I end up with occasional bloody eggs - just smears of blood. Not sure if it's caused by stretching down there or a particularly rough egg shell, but it just happens on occasion. I feel badly for the hen/pullet involved, but don't worry over it. As for your BR girl - usually spring chickens don't molt, but it definitely sound like your girl IS molting - down to the dark feather shafts poking through where all the feathers are lost.
If a hen/pullet is eggbound, you'll probably notice her walking around kind of hunched over, and her vent area will pulse as if trying to expel an egg. Don't worry too much about what "could" happen until you need to.
What you're feeding your hens/pullets sounds fine. Relax and enjoy your girls

PS - MANY folks new to chickens worry and stress about the crop - assuming a tumor or something else...lol.

 

[roxysly]

Wow your chicken coop pictures are AMAZING...I'm so jealous...you even have their house insulated. No Kidding... If I had the tools and the know how I'd do the same. For now here in Oregon these chickens of mine will need to survive some pretty frozen weather come winter. I'm going to make sure I add another heating lamp before it gets real bad. Right now it's relatively mild.

I'll have to take the time to post some pictures as well. It seems all I do is take pictures of my girls but never post them. Just like I do for my kids. LOL.

Thank you for the additional information. I hurried home after my Chemistry and trig midterms and checked to see if any had pulsating bottoms, additional signs of blood, or other worrisome red flags. Thank goodness they all seemed cheery until they realized I didn't bring them a treat.

Sally jean was either really poofed out with her feathers to keep warm, or maybe shes filling in with new ones, she didn't seem to look so bad. Anyway I will be up early to treat them to some homeade warm oatmeal and warm fresh water in case they have to endure another frost tonight.

Thanks again.

Roxysly and her girls

 

[Barbs Organic Garden]

I, too, have had the occasional blood-smeared egg from a young pullet. Nothing to worry about, in my experience, although I was concerned the first time I saw it. But I had an elderly (4 yrs old) hen who had blood running down her leg one morning. I took her to the vet to see if anything could be done, but she had intestine protruding from her vent and the vet said there was a tear in it, meaning inevitable peritonits and a long drawn out and painful death. So I butchered her for soup, and found a huge egg blocking two other very large ones, followed by the usual smaller ones just forming. She made absoluting wonderful soup though, and I gave her my respects and my thanks as I ate it.
Insulated hen house? I had them insulate mine when it was built, which means double walls, floor and ceiling, filled with the pink stuff all round. Also the house is facing south with a wall of windows on that side (which I replace with chicken wire in summer). It can be minus 20 outside and warm and toasty inside on a sunny day. But I am in Northern New York, and you are in Oregon. Unless you live east of the Cascades you probably don't have such cold weather. Chickens can stand very cold weather if they are not in a draft. I will try the bag-balm-on-the-comb idea this winter. One year a few of them got frostbite on their combs.
I guess you could insulate your house by tacking up batts of insulation, and then adding a few nailers, and then a plywood or even just fiber board inner surface to keep the ladies from pecking at the spun glass batting. I don't like heat lamps because of the fire hazzard with all that dry litter. What if something unexpected happens in the middle of the night?