I hate my chickens!! however I am starting to like them again pg 5

[Uppity Peon]

Maybe it'sssssss....

snakes?

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
Maybe it's time to change the title of your thread to something more accuratly reflect your feelings, like "I'm really aggravated with my chickens!" or "I hate that my chickens aren't laying well"?

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Well said. I'm sure you don't want to get rid of your chickens because they aren't laying, and that's great because that would be too harsh. But saying that you hate them isn't that nice, either. Chickens are not egg laying factories; if they aren't laying, then there's a cause. And it's up to you, their provider of food, shelter, water, etc. to find out what that cause is. Maybe they are lacking something in their diet? Maybe they are sick? Maybe it's something so simple that once you eliminate the cause, they will start laying again? But you won't know until you try and figure it out. Look at what you're feeding them. Look at how they act. Look at their droppings to see if they look normal. Do as much as you can to see if you can figure out why they aren't laying, because they more than likely have their reasons.

And if I were you, I would change the title a bit.

Good luck! I hope you figure out why they aren't laying!

 

[CallyB57]

I was worried this would happen with my chickens...and I'm not really one to stress over 'animals' and their habits, so I just ordered some more chickens. I figure that 23 chickens have GOT to lay enough eggs for one person. Shoot - if they only laid one egg a week, that's 2 dozen eggs. It is so hot here 97 degrees and very humid - I hope they ever lay at all. If not...h'mmmm - I'll go to the grocery store.

 

[CallyB57]

d1 - the problem with the written word is that nobody can see the expression on your face...it could have ranged from comical to seriously disturbed...I know you don't hate your chickens - chickens are just not hate-able, whether they lay eggs or not. I'm going to pet mine up and give them some raw peanuts as soon as I get home - and I also can't wait to hold them and inspect them.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Early on when I had chickens, they all stopped laying. Everyday I would go to the box and not find an egg. They were about 3 years old and I thought they were done. I put an ad in the paper and rehomed all my girls to retire free range on a wonderful person's farm. I got a call about a month later that my chickens were laying all over the place. They were only molting.

 

[d1]

they are redeming thierselves,i got 3 yesterday

 

[ChooksChick]

HOOORRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

 

[SC_Hugh]

I love my little chickens. My Dominiques are 8 weeks old today and my Cochins are 6.5 weeks

My two teenage boys (14 and 17) are saying, "Dad spends more time with his chickens than us". And I say, "I just sitting out there for 30 minutes watching the chickens walk around and scratch, pull up a chair and let's talk about new and good things in our lives". But nooooo, they would rather watch movies, send off a zillion texts and talk on their cell phones, update their internet pages, run off with their friends to the beach and the movies...anything other than spend time with dear old dad, who is fooling who?

Anyway, back to my chicken story...I have given names to two of my four chickens and it is the two named ones that fly over to me and want to be close to me. So, my goal this weekend is to name the other two and move on with my chicken relations

My friend at work told me yesterday that I should have picked better egg layer breeds, then I read that egg production drops off after the first couple of years. That doesn't matter to me, this is my first attempt at raising chickens, so my main goal is to keep them healthy and safe from disease and predators. With my 6 and 8 week old pullets, I won't see a single egg for months, but that gives me more time to build the nest boxes.

Good to hear that your chickens are laying again, mine just eat all day and come to me for snacks...

--Hugh

 

[Uppity Peon]

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Hahahaaa! I can SO relate to that! Happy Father's Day, and bless the chickens who are always so happy to see you!