INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

The hens laid 14 eggs today. Think i will had more to the incubator. LOL

can't wait to see all the babies!!! I am hoping to build my homemade one this weekend.

 

[CluckAcres]

Guys, anyone else raise guineas? Harder to find good info on them, they roost with my chickens so i am hoping they will be fine? I know the geese will be, and i have seen the muscovy fare pretty well. I would say this year has turned into a "real winter"... I got spoiled last year.

only like 56 more days and it will be spring! Cant wait.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

my hens turned 18 weeks old today. Is there anything special I can do to encourage egg laying? They are RIR so I'm thinking they should start laying sooner in the 18-22 wk time frame mosst books say hens start laying. Then again it is cold so maybe they won't lay for a few more weeks.

 

[CluckAcres]

my hens turned 18 weeks old today. Is there anything special I can do to encourage egg laying? They are RIR so I'm thinking they should start laying sooner in the 18-22 wk time frame mosst books say hens start laying. Then again it is cold so maybe they won't lay for a few more weeks.

You can add fake eggs or white golf balls to nest boxes. Being that young still they might not lay till spring.

 

[bradselig]

my hens turned 18 weeks old today.  Is there anything special I can do to encourage egg laying?  They are RIR so I'm thinking they should start laying sooner in the 18-22 wk time frame mosst books say hens start laying.  Then again it is cold so maybe they won't lay for a few more weeks.

 

I have no idea if this had any role in getting mine to lay, but it was around the time they were 22 weeks. They still hadn't laid for me. I put golf balls in their lay boxes. Next day I had several eggs!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

my hens turned 18 weeks old today. Is there anything special I can do to encourage egg laying? They are RIR so I'm thinking they should start laying sooner in the 18-22 wk time frame mosst books say hens start laying. Then again it is cold so maybe they won't lay for a few more weeks.

The week my wyandottes started, My girls were suddenly squatting for me, Red my roo started crowing, and he "became a Rooster" hehe.. its like someone turned on the hormone faucet

He was even going after my lil pearl guinea! mine were hatched supposedly 4/22 and started laying 9/20 last year. 22-23 weeks i think. And after raising these BA's, I think they were older than 4 weeks, more like 6? On one of the other threads, I read the "heritage" breeds tend to mature slower? Don't go off me tho, my wyandottes were my 1st layers ever and they were mostly feathered.when i was gifted them. I went with a good layer feed, lots of mealie and bug treats to give them a protein boost, but i think its really when their little hormones kick in

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

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Oh, yes forgot that, dad bought 4 brown ceramic ones. Lol he was right they are brown layers!

 

[Leahs Mom]

only like 56 more days and it will be spring! Cant wait.

Can't wait till spring....I'm not much of a cold weather person!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

i loved it when i was little, we sledded for hours. I grew up in lake county, in little town south of Schererville. I loved snowmobiles too. UGH forget it now! Bones and joints ache, gimme spring, summer, fall and my boat on Brookville lake hehe!

 

[SIMZ]

Well, after my yapping about the cold, we lost a chicken last night (1st year white rock). She was fine when my son gave them some scratch and checked waters around 6 a.m. Then he went back out about an hour later to let them out and she was dead. We looked her over well and it looked like she had something going on with her vent -- maybe she was egg bound or prolapsed. We didn't notice anything wrong with her, but I haven't been hanging around watching them as much since it's been so cold.

I brought in a leghorn last night that I thought had some kind of problem, too. Maybe I'll go back to worrying. Ugh.