New and Confused!

[Bourgeois Farms]

Hi, I have 2 chickens about 13 weeks old. They are not laying yet, but I read that is OK. My question is the poop! I use hay inside their coop and nesting boxes and clean it out once a week by raking ALL the hay and putting it in a pile and then putting new hay. So- I don't seem to be catching ALL the poop, is this a problem? The girls seem happy, but no eggs. The coop is large for 2 birds and I do let them out when I get home, I am a school teacher, so around 3 pm till 5:30. Should I let them out more? I can't let them out when I am not home, right? They were pooping in their food so I hung it from the top and that seems better. I check their water everyday and they need more food about once a week- I leave the food thingy out all the time and just keep filling it up!
OK so I am open for ideas, suggestions or affirmation that I AM doing an OK job and they WILL lay! LOL thanks!

 

[KPenley]

Hi, I have 2 chickens about 13 weeks old. They are not laying yet, but I read that is OK. My question is the poop! I use hay inside their coop and nesting boxes and clean it out once a week by raking ALL the hay and putting it in a pile and then putting new hay. So- I don't seem to be catching ALL the poop, is this a problem? The girls seem happy, but no eggs. The coop is large for 2 birds and I do let them out when I get home, I am a school teacher, so around 3 pm till 5:30. Should I let them out more? I can't let them out when I am not home, right? They were pooping in their food so I hung it from the top and that seems better. I check their water everyday and they need more food about once a week- I leave the food thingy out all the time and just keep filling it up!
OK so I am open for ideas, suggestions or affirmation that I AM doing an OK job and they WILL lay! LOL thanks!

Your chickens won't start laying for another couple of months or more (most seem to start laying between 17 and 27 weeks). What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[Bourgeois Farms]

I have one black and one white- I know not much help. One is Ideal 236??? Got them from the feed store in my town. The black one is more friendly than the white. The white one is scared of everything! LOL she's a chicken!
Anyway- the lady said the white one would produce white eggs and the black one brown eggs. I think I may call them and ask if they rememeber what kinds they had in September!

 

[KPenley]

ok. It's possible that the ideal 236 will be laying around 17 to 20 weeks, but with it being Fall to Winter it depends entirely on how much light she gets (I think they need about 14 hours of sunlight to produce an egg). Don't worry about them not laying though until they've reached maturity. They're still kind of like kids or tweens.

 

[jtbrown]

Just as KPenley noted, it will be a while until they start laying. it is important to know what kind of birds. (edited to add, I got stopped in the middle of my first response, this has already been addressed).

But, I have a number of different breeds, and I have observed it is not unusual for one bird out of 4 to mature quicker than the others. I have some 20 week old birds that half are laying and the other half are still looking really immature. So, be patient, that first egg will be great.

I have heard, but not personal experience, sometimes with winter coming, a bird will wait to lay until early spring, but I have not had that experience, just throwing it in.

Good luck. Sounds to me like you are taking great care of your feathered friends.