Laying Feed

[2boxers]

I just began feeding my hens laying mash today. I have some hens that are fourteen months and were laying when I brought them home (lovely green eggs!). My bantams are five months old and no eggs.

So I have a few questions. I know I should have started my banties on laying feed sooner if I wanted them to lay, which I do. Is my delay in switching their feed over the reason they aren't laying?

Also, my bantams are hens, and I recently realized (though my magnificent powers of observation

) that five of my five RIR's are roos. So if a rir gets with a bantam (is that possible?) and fertilizes an egg and the egg hatches, what will I get?

I feel like I am asking the stupidest questions, but I honestly just don't know.

Oh...anybody want some free roosters

 

[speckledhen]

Feed does not cause them to lay. You want layer when they begin laying since it's formulated with the proper calcium levels for layers.
Bantams are not a breed, but a miniature chicken. A standard RIR with any bantam will most likely produce an adult bird a bit smaller than a standard breed. To know what you'd get, you'll have to know which breed of bantam. Even RIRs come in bantam size.

 

[2boxers]

Well thank you very much. My banties are white silkies. I guess it's not uncommon for them not to lay eggs yet. I also may just be missing the eggs since they free range during the day. I love my silkies and would love to hatch some rir x silkies!

I reckon my hens are just on strike. They are molting, too, and I have read that this can cause them to stop laying.

No worries. They don't have to lay to earn their keep. They've already paid for their room & board a hundred times over in the sheer pleasure of watching them.