Mystery White Chickens

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However depending upon where you are the winter cold and shorter daylight hours will play into how soon they will lay.

I try to get my pullets to 20 weeks by July or August latest so they get established in laying before the onset of winter hours otherwise they don't seem to kick in well until spring especially if one of their last juvenile molts occurs at the normal fall molt time.

Hopefully yours won't mind the winter and will set in to laying well soon. Adding lighting to the coop can help to extend the light time to beyond 12 hours each day. (Just don't leave it on all the time or you can cause some egg laying issues and chicken irritability. Also be careful with any lighting...I've burned a coop down and so have several of my friends.)

Lady of McCamley

I agree with the others-- white Rock hen coming up on point of lay.

Just a correction to Lady, above--they need a minimum of 14 hours of light to affect egg production. 12 hours will just waste electricity.

If you add light, be sure to do it gradually, like 10-15 minutes more light every 3-4 days until you're up over 14 hours of light a day. Jumping from 10 hours of light (what we have naturally this time of year) to 14+ won't do you much good.

Here is a great link to a University website: http://umaine.edu/publications/2227e/
 
I agree with the others-- white Rock hen coming up on point of lay.

Just a correction to Lady, above--they need a minimum of 14 hours of light to affect egg production. 12 hours will just waste electricity.

If you add light, be sure to do it gradually, like 10-15 minutes more light every 3-4 days until you're up over 14 hours of light a day. Jumping from 10 hours of light (what we have naturally this time of year) to 14+ won't do you much good.

Here is a great link to a University website: http://umaine.edu/publications/2227e/


Thank you for the correction...yes 14 not 12 hours is correct...typed too quickly...and gradual addition is right too.

I would just emphasize again that if you do use lighting that it be properly wired and more importantly very secure so birds can't knock it down. And you don't need really bright light just enough to read a newspaper at hen level. And really watch it if you add lighting for heat purposes...that can get flammable real quick. My circle of friends have gone to flourescent type to better avoid fire.

But you don't have to light at all. I stopped lighting altogether after burning my coop down and use the rule of thumb twice the number of birds for eggs during winter due to the egg drop from winter.

Lady of McCamley

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17 weeks is really early. I hatched out a bunch of chicks and mine looked about like that at 20 weeks and started laying at about 23 to 24 weeks. lucky for you if you ask me. Eggs sooner is never bad.
 
17 weeks is really early. I hatched out a bunch of chicks and mine looked about like that at 20 weeks and started laying at about 23 to 24 weeks. lucky for you if you ask me. Eggs sooner is never bad.

Eggs sooner is bad for the pullet and bad for their eventual egg size. Most large layer barns use lighting to hold back the first date of lay with their pullets until they are 22 weeks or so. Earlier has a much greater chance for prolapse and also you'll get lots of itty bitty eggs instead of them getting to a proper size more quickly. Read the lighting link I posted above--there's great information in there on how to use lighting to stop your pullets from developing too quickly.
 
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I already have lighting in the coop. I think on average it is about 13-14 so I hope we are ok there. The three older girls (two ducks and my EE) that were laying prior to fall are all still laying regularly.
17 weeks is really early. I hatched out a bunch of chicks and mine looked about like that at 20 weeks and started laying at about 23 to 24 weeks. lucky for you if you ask me. Eggs sooner is never bad.

I figure it all evens out in the end. My Pekin started laying right at 20 weeks. My EE was about 23. And then the Swedish Blue was more like 27-28. I was starting to think I had a drake, LOL.
 
Update: Still no egg and no crowing. I don't see anything that looks like saddle feathers or hackles...at nearly 19 weeks I would, right?
 
Update: Still no egg and no crowing. I don't see anything that looks like saddle feathers or hackles...at nearly 19 weeks I would, right?
Yes, you will usually see pointed saddle/hackle feathers in the cockerels by 19 weeks. So your birds are probably pullets.
 
They look like white rocks to me. here is mine at 13 weeks. I think they are pullets



sorry about the quality of the pictures
hmm.png
 
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Did you get the brown egg layer mix too? Looks like you have the same mix I have - the white rocks, barred rocks, and RIR. My girls looked like that until 17ish weeks, then the one started getting red. The roo was so obvious...he wasn't even 4 weeks and I started telling my hubby I thought we had a roo (they were supposed to be all pullets!).
 

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