New to this!

[savingdogs]

I think it will be different by breed. I have four month old easter eggers that are not laying yet, but last year my Rhode Island Reds started laying just a little after that.

Fertilized eggs taste exactly the same. They do not develop at all unless incubated, even if you let them sit on the counter a few days. I know you are supposed to be able to see a bullseye in a fertilized egg, but honestly I don't even usually see that. There is no nutritional difference either, and egg color means nothing either nutrionally. What you feed your chickens does however.

To me store-bought eggs several months old are what sounds unappealing, not fresh layed fertilized eggs.

 

[Muggsmagee]

6 months is a good average. My Buff Orpingtons were 5 months and my Light Brahmas were just over 4 months old when they started laying. I have Ameraucanas that are almost 6 months that haven't done a thing! Each bird is different.

 

[NurseDitmyer]

Savingdogs, what type of food would make a difference? We have chicken feed from the feed store but also give them our leftover table scraps alot. We had read it was a good idea to do.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Your table scraps are perfectly fine! So is the feed. I think savingdogs was referring to the nutritional value of your own eggs (knowing where the chicken's food comes from) and the nutritional value of commercial farm eggs (hormones and such added). You will notice if you let your chickens eat more green stuff (pasture, grass, leafy greens) and have access to the sunshine, their egg yolks are more orange in color. I have developed an acquired "sight" for it. The nutritionally/sunlight deprived commercial layers' egg yolks are more yellow.

 

[savingdogs]

Well certain ingredients add "omega oils" to the eggs. Flax seed and black oil sunflower seed are two ways to add but also having green growing food in their diet (free ranging) adds to the omega oils in the eggs.
We found we can buy black oil sunflower seeds on sale at the local feed store in 50 pound bags for 20 dollars. These last a long time and it is very useful. We use it to direct our birds to go certain places. When they see us throw down those seeds, they will RUN whereever that is! Every time they see us, they are hoping we have some of those seeds.
We also feed scraps but that is to make us feel better about wasting food, not that it is very good for them, but they love scraps. Just no onions, no potato peels, no avocado skins, and nothing too fatty or too salty. And nothing moldy.
I am new to this too but I've had mine a year and learned a lot here at BYC.

 

[savingdogs]

Didn't mean to imply table scraps are bad. Just should not be too much of their total diet as it isn't balanced like that feed you are giving them.

My leftovers usually amount to things like too much pasta that I cooked or leftover rice, I doubt there is much nutrition in that.

Our chickens love meat....which really surprised me. I did not realize they are little omnivores......

 

[NurseDitmyer]

Thanks!

We have a nice coup and run my husband built but we've never let the chicken range in the yard. We have an acre and we worried they'd be too hard to get back in the coup. We had 3 small chickens back in May that gotten eaten by something (it had gotten in the first coup we had). So we've been nervous about trying that.

 

[BrianT]

Quote:
If they have been in the coop for more than a couple of weeks, they will put themselves to bed at dusk. No problem getting them back in.

 

[Gallusfarm]

No one else commented on the cornish cross situation. What should she do about that...?? I've read on here that it can be sad having them get big and that guy looks like a rooster. NurseD, I assume you're not planning on using him for meat?

 

[NurseDitmyer]

The Cornish Rock is our second one. I believe this one is a hen. The other was obviously a roo, especially after he started crowing! My husband "took care" of that one and he is currently in our freezer. I'm not sure what to do with the other one. Will she lay eggs? How long DO they live? If she will lay eggs, we'll probably keep her. We aren't opposed to using her for meat.