Newbie please help

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michellenov9

michellenov9

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Ok so all my hens are 17 weeks old , got my first egg Saturday very small egg , then a large egg sunday then a small egg today , why is only one of my chickens laying the are all smae age ? We also keep Christmas lights on in the coop all the time is this bad ? I heard they cant see well at night ? Also 2 of my hens have very red dark long combs now rhe other 4 are still light pink ? I have 4 Longisland reds and 2 americanas thank you for any help
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! When they first start laying they can and do produce differing eggs untill they get their laying machines in correct working order. If your girls are healthy and acting normal I would not be worried about the differing egg sizes for now, once they get going they should produce normal eggs regular for you. As for the Christmas lights I would turn them off. They don't need to see at night when they go to roost. That is their rest time and when they digest the food in the crop. You only need supplement lighting if you want them to lay eggs in the winter when the daylight hours are reduced. About 14 hours per day for light and they should lay well. Having lighting on as pullets could be pushing them too quickly into laying. I find it best to let them do it naturally and at their own rate.
Even though your chickens are the same age they will not all start at the same time, they're all individuals. Usually the more red the comb the closer to laying they are.

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC :frow
 
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Greetings from Canada and welcome to BYC. These peeps are very knowledgeable. A day doesn't go by that I don't learn something new from them.....today it was the "red comb" thing.
When I have a question about something, I put it in the "search" box and answers always seem to pop up.
Good luck with your new venture.
 
Hi...need a bit if advice...a member of staff has ducks at her farm and so this year for the first time we have had 'living duck eggs" in school! Last night after much anticipation egg number one hatched successfully! The children are in love and luckily it's sibling made great leaps in hatching...so much so as I plugged then back in at home...Ta da the second duckling popped out! At first the older duckling, now 24hrs old went over and began to proon but then 'she' started to persistently attack the newborns eyes! After monitoring it for about 15 minutes I decided that the newborn needed the opportunity to catch it's breathe and fluff up so I put in a cardboard partition...after 3hrs I reintroduced the older duckling but once again 'she' went straight for the newborns eyes! Therefore partition is firmly back up! I'm just worried that the older one may get cold as 'she' hasn't got close access to the bulb! I've attached a picture...our bulb is red if that helps? I put in a mirror for the older one too?!?!?
400
 
One more question if i may ask , thank yall all for being so very nice , what are some good healty treats for my birds ? The whole bottom of there run is all dirt down so i know they would like something other than feed ?
 
Welcome to BYC. You could toss them some veggies scraps, lettuce, kale, etc. Or for festive occasions, get them some meal worms (ugh) they usually love them.
 
Kittyn your best advice would be to ask the staff member who raises ducks, You can always post on the "Duck thread."
 
Yorkshire coop said:
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! When they first start laying they can and do produce differing eggs untill they get their laying machines in correct working order. If your girls are healthy and acting normal I would not be worried about the differing egg sizes for now, once they get going they should produce normal eggs regular for you. As for the Christmas lights I would turn them off. They don't need to see at night when they go to roost. That is their rest time and when they digest the food in the crop. You only need supplement lighting if you want them to lay eggs in the winter when the daylight hours are reduced. About 14 hours per day for light and they should lay well. Having lighting on as pullets could be pushing them too quickly into laying. I find it best to let them do it naturally and at their own rate.
Even though your chickens are the same age they will not all start at the same time, they're all individuals. Usually the more red the comb the closer to laying they are.

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC :frow
Click to expand...
 
kittyn said:
I'm just worried that the older one may get cold as 'she' hasn't got close access to the bulb! I've attached a picture...our bulb is red if that helps? I put in a mirror for the older one too?!?!?
Click to expand...
You can put a thermometer in with the duckling to see if it is warm enough. I picked up a heating pad at the thrift store for four dollars. When I am worried that chicks from large batches aren't getting close enough to the brooder light for maximum heat, I put the heating pad under half of the box. That way if it gets too hot for them they can move away from it.
 

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