hi i have 5 chickens 1 Rooster and 4 hens, 3 of my hens are now 21 weeks old and the other hen is much older BUT not TOO OLD and i havent had not 1 egg yet i am getting so fustrated as they are now at laying age i saty in a residential area so my chicken coop is built very nice and it is comfortable for them.. they eat laying mesh only every now and then i give them corn in thier diet fresh water all the time!!!!! BUT STILL NO EGGS NOT EVEN 1 EGG HAS BEEN LAID (!!!!FERTALIZED AND NOT FERTALIZED!!!!) We are in winter here in South Africa its the end of july this weekend and the start of August... Please help me if you might know whats wrong!!!!! PS they are healthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rant
First, pullets need 12-14 hours, per day, of light to perform at their best. Have you tried keeping a light on for them, to "lengthen" their day a bit? I'd suggest a tiimer that comes on early in the morning, say 0500 and goes off in the later afternoon, say around 1650 or 1700. You don't want the bulb to snap off and plunge them into the evening darkness. They need the dusk time to settle on their roosts. Second, I'd be sure the layer mash constituted the vast majority of their diet. Supplementing with corn (maize) weakens their diet's total nutritional value considerably. Finally, most of your pullets at 21 weeks are just now getting ready to lay, depending on breed.
Hi Fred, My breed of chickens is Koekoek thats what we call them here in south africa but i see they are called barred internationally they are a mix between a white leghorn and black Australops. my chickens are black and white spotted. I have tried artificial lighting for a week and still had no luck, i have left a egg laying in the coop witch i hopefully thought it would encourage them to lay but still not! i also give them white bread like twice a week when i can see they are hungry, so you saying that feeding maize like normal chickens eat is not good??? thank you for replying
