New 19 week old pullets - signs of stress/not using roosts?

[jthornton]

I saw a thread the other day that said it was great fun to watch them sort out preferred locations, looking forward.

Yep the "roost time rumble" can be pretty amusing, mine don't do much rumbling any more at 2 years old.

JT

 

[phyllmud]

The coop is beautiful. I would just give them time to acclimate to their new home.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

I have ISA Browns and they lay around 22 weeks of age. Although the new ones I got this started laying a few days prior to being 17 weeks of age. I like your coop, very nice.

 

[NovaChooks]

Their coop is nicer than my house!

 

[Ted Brown]

Your comments are very kind and much appreciated.

My coop faces south with a slight east bias as Prince Woods says it should. My BIL went out on the deck at daybreak and took this picture looking east down the lake.

 

[Ted Brown]

This evening all seven ladies found their way up the ramp and onto their roosts, I think they are mimicking the heap in the south east corner where they started out; hard to make out but all seven are up there.

 

[Ted Brown]

This will probably be my last post here.

My seven ladies never exhibited any signs of stress that we could discern. Our first started to lay three days after being transferred to the new coop, we now get four eggs per day with a total 27 so far. All eggs are very similar in colour (medium brown) but we did get one that was very light with gold speckles.

The "training" to roost worked perfectly, took 6-7 re-locations before all seven got the message but now the roosts are a common part of both daily and night time routines.

They tend to use the front roost next to the ramp board for sleeping. We have those who use the ramp to get up/down and those that fly up/down. Given the partial light it is hard to tell which are climbing vs flying by I expect the same ones repeat their pattern.

Temperatures have dropped to around 5C at night with 10C-15C during day. This should continue for most of October.

I am very grateful for all comments received but especially want to thank @aart, @jthornton @blackdog043 for their most valuable guidance!!!!

 

[Ted Brown]

So quickly I contradict myself but I could not resist. We now have a total of 31 eggs, sister organized this and BIL took the shot.

 

[jthornton]

That one might be a double yolk egg, I got quite a few when mine first started laying. Mine first started laying mostly PeeWee size (35g - 42g) eggs then shifted up to 2/3 Small size (43g - 49g) by the second month and over time leveled out with the average of 61g - 63g. After 4 months of laying I stopped getting any really big and really small eggs and no more double yolk eggs.

I wash and dry the shells then crush them in an old blender then add that to my oyster shell dispenser.


JT

 

[Ted Brown]

Today we had a 5th egg for the 1st time. Had been getting 4 eggs on a daily basis with occasional 3, assumed that meant 4 layers. With 5 eggs it should mean 5, we shall see how quickly it becomes regular.

Our first two eggs (once broken) came September 20th, one week after we received our seven pullets, four eggs per day within the following week. Two more pullets to come on-board...