ourorrhome
Hatching
- Nov 30, 2016
- 2
- 0
- 9
Hello,
I have had my first layer hens since summer of 2015. On average they laid 5-6 eggs / day once in about a month a 7th Would come since they all got going mid summer to early fall that year. Late spring I had 1 go broody for me. Out of 15 eggs 7 stayed good (once she started setting I pushed every egg laid under till there was 15....
2 babies died early, 5 others survived, and I bought 15 hatchlings that arrived 4 days later and she raised them all wonderfully.
This early fall they got all shook up moving into a new "chicken yard and new "one room coop" 4'x10'
Now I have have gone from 1 rooster, 7 hens to 3 roosters and 25 hens. (Well technically the new girls born in July are not laying yet so guess they are still pullets.)
About early October and still now, the older hens (now into their second coming winter)
Started loosing feathers. Not all at once, little patches at a time, some of them still having bald spots.
For about a month and a half I get 1 to 7 eggs a week. Now I'm down to 1 egg about every three days.
They are all on layer pellets mixed with corn and (was scratch grains, now wild bird seed. Thought the wild bird seed had more yummy in it for them).
They have scratched their crab grass / clover yard bare after the first month & half ....
There is mega worms, spiders, grubs n every other bug.... And they are always happily pecking n scratching.
... Love it when it rains best.... The bugs come up....
Question 1 should I feeding them anything better to get them back to laying?
Question 2---
I have a solar LED light set up for them with a light red cloth rigged over the light.... (No power to my barns)
It comes on at dark and seems to last till about midnight or so.
Is this going to work for lighting? I never needed lighting last winter.
Oh .... Yes, there are 2 windows to the complete building (10x14) one window in their section, one to the milk house section. .... But they get all the light the windows can bring in.
Question 3---
I use wood chips mostly, the bulding is insulated and I have scrape boards under the roost. So to take up and help close in the area I placed bales of straw under the scrape boards (still leaving wood chips in the main path and on the scrape boards....) I clean down the scrape boards often since this building is a duel purpose to my goat milking.... I can't have a strong Oder to leach into my milk....
Oh I should also mention the roost has an interior roof as I have a loft 6' and up to peak to store wood chips and extra equipment.
Should I do any more to prep them for cold?
...... Last year I had 8 chickens in a 3x5 coop.... N we did okay (but they where laying....) and I am down that I'm not getting them back into laying yet....
My indoor water source for winter is a hanging bucket that has the nipples on the bottom it is wrapped in water heater insulation (plastic wrapped) with access to place a pocket warmer in a sock sleeve, in beside the bucket as needed.... Having a rubber dish under the bucket to catch drips and keep from wetting bedding on floor.
I have seriously searched the forums the past 3 days to my questions but never got an answer exact to my questions.... I also read country side's chicken and gist articles, well .... Anything I can google really....
I hope some of you can guide me?
Thank you. And if I can figure out how I will try to take a newly updated pic of the coop in winter prep tomorrow n hopefully figure it how to post it....
Thank you all!!!
I have had my first layer hens since summer of 2015. On average they laid 5-6 eggs / day once in about a month a 7th Would come since they all got going mid summer to early fall that year. Late spring I had 1 go broody for me. Out of 15 eggs 7 stayed good (once she started setting I pushed every egg laid under till there was 15....
2 babies died early, 5 others survived, and I bought 15 hatchlings that arrived 4 days later and she raised them all wonderfully.
This early fall they got all shook up moving into a new "chicken yard and new "one room coop" 4'x10'
Now I have have gone from 1 rooster, 7 hens to 3 roosters and 25 hens. (Well technically the new girls born in July are not laying yet so guess they are still pullets.)
About early October and still now, the older hens (now into their second coming winter)
Started loosing feathers. Not all at once, little patches at a time, some of them still having bald spots.
For about a month and a half I get 1 to 7 eggs a week. Now I'm down to 1 egg about every three days.
They are all on layer pellets mixed with corn and (was scratch grains, now wild bird seed. Thought the wild bird seed had more yummy in it for them).
They have scratched their crab grass / clover yard bare after the first month & half ....
There is mega worms, spiders, grubs n every other bug.... And they are always happily pecking n scratching.
... Love it when it rains best.... The bugs come up....
Question 1 should I feeding them anything better to get them back to laying?
Question 2---
I have a solar LED light set up for them with a light red cloth rigged over the light.... (No power to my barns)
It comes on at dark and seems to last till about midnight or so.
Is this going to work for lighting? I never needed lighting last winter.
Oh .... Yes, there are 2 windows to the complete building (10x14) one window in their section, one to the milk house section. .... But they get all the light the windows can bring in.
Question 3---
I use wood chips mostly, the bulding is insulated and I have scrape boards under the roost. So to take up and help close in the area I placed bales of straw under the scrape boards (still leaving wood chips in the main path and on the scrape boards....) I clean down the scrape boards often since this building is a duel purpose to my goat milking.... I can't have a strong Oder to leach into my milk....
Oh I should also mention the roost has an interior roof as I have a loft 6' and up to peak to store wood chips and extra equipment.
Should I do any more to prep them for cold?
...... Last year I had 8 chickens in a 3x5 coop.... N we did okay (but they where laying....) and I am down that I'm not getting them back into laying yet....
My indoor water source for winter is a hanging bucket that has the nipples on the bottom it is wrapped in water heater insulation (plastic wrapped) with access to place a pocket warmer in a sock sleeve, in beside the bucket as needed.... Having a rubber dish under the bucket to catch drips and keep from wetting bedding on floor.
I have seriously searched the forums the past 3 days to my questions but never got an answer exact to my questions.... I also read country side's chicken and gist articles, well .... Anything I can google really....
I hope some of you can guide me?
Thank you. And if I can figure out how I will try to take a newly updated pic of the coop in winter prep tomorrow n hopefully figure it how to post it....
Thank you all!!!
! Great to have you aboard. Looks like CTKen has loaded you up with great links so I'll just say best wishes and thanks for joining BYC! :yiipchick
