how long to give a hen to lay?

[sutphindanesnchickens]

I've had a barred rock hen for almost 3 months now that is a yr old and hasnt layed an egg...bout to give her the boilin pot....how long to give the hens to start laying they have a white heat lamp on them bout 12 hrs a day out of 9 hens i'm getting 4 eggs a day....
FRUSTRATED IN OHIO

 

[cms1113]

i know how you feel!! My free-loading hens are just here for the ride,lol! But mine probably are still warming up to their new environment since we just got them 2 weeks ago. Good luck getting them to lay!

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Have you tried increasing their protein?

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
why are you picking on her? you have 5 not laying..

short days, too cold, too many "treat" foods, cut back on the sratch feed or cracked corn.
I give mine warm water to drink when it is very cold out..

I am guessing it is something that you are or are not doing to have this low %..

 

[Montana-Hens]

You don't say what breeds are in your mix. Some breeds lay earlier than others.

I agree with the temperature thing....the colder the day for me the fewer eggs.

I have never done the supplemental light thing so don't have any expeirence on how that impacts laying, but they say it helps. But I had two breeds that laid all winter in Montana with no supplemental ligh and cold temps in Montana.

At 3 months I would say give them some time.

 

[mjane]

Give her more time. It's been so cold in the east. My girls even the jerseys have quit for a while. Once spring gets here and there is lots of light they will come back laying. This happened to me last year and I was so frustrated but they went back to laying. By the way maybe if you add some artificial light it might get them going. They need about 12 hours of light, did not work for me but you never know.

 

[cajunlizz]

LIGHT IN COOP , FRESH WATER , AND PLENTY OF LAYING PELLETS

 

[jvls1942]

I just re-read the original post..

chickens need at least 14 hours of light..

give her at least as long as it takes for the rest of them to start laying.. it is too cold to process chickens right now anyhow..

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
My barred rocks were 9 months old and NO EGGS . I added lights in coops and BINGO

 

[JennsPeeps]

I'd say give her a while longer so that she starts getting more daylight. My BR laid for 2 weeks in Dec-Jan, then quit. Not an egg since. I'm waiting for the days to get longer before I get really impatient!