NY chicken lover!!!!

[Aria]

Hope everyone is surviving the weather, here nr Buffalo we coped OK in the big storm last weekend, 13 inches of snow, and very cold temps below 0, overnight we are heading into an ice storm, and a big warm up to around 28 and freezing rain.

My 6 girls also did a 'bottoms up' one warm day a few weeks ago - probably related to the sunflower seeds I threw down on the porch to tempt them out of the coop. They have chosen to stay inside the coop since then, even though they have a covered run, free from snow, they just prefer to snooze on the roost unless temps are above freezing.

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We had a very 'eggciting' time last week, our Red Sexlinks started laying, one of them the usual golf ball sized eggs you often see for the first few weeks of laying. Her sister laid the biggest egg I have ever seen - I assumed it would be a double yolker.....

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Well this was what we found when we opened it - another whole egg, as well as the yolk (which broke) and white to go with the big shell!!!

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Of course this lead to some Google research, and this 1 minute vid was the best explanation I found of how that happens

The 2 Catskill Homesteader hens we added to the flock last June have recently had their first molt, Bronwen went from a scruffly looking thing to a rather gorgeous looking lady

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That's all the updates from me, thought you'd all get a kick out of the supersize egg, poor girl, what an introduction to laying, every egg since then has been normal size.

How neat. We have 4 hens ....3 mixed breeds NOT LAYING. Never an egg since Spring?????? This is a first for us. And we have one Rhode Island Red that lays one egg a day. Have you every heard of Non laying hen? Could it be too much interbreed?
They seem very active and healthy and we feed them 21% pellets and treats. Aria

 

[Purple Iris]

How neat. We have 4 hens ....3 mixed breeds NOT LAYING. Never an egg since Spring?????? This is a first for us. And we have one Rhode Island Red that lays one egg a day. Have you every heard of Non laying hen? Could it be too much interbreed?
They seem very active and healthy and we feed them 21% pellets and treats. Aria

Wonder why they aren't laying? Sure others with more experience on here may have suggestions, are they young or older? Our oldest hen is almost 5 now, and last few years lays eggs approx every other day only between about May & Sept, doesn't lay at all over the winter. Also had periods in the past where things went from several eggs a day to none, few weeks later, saw remnants of pecked shell with yolk on it in another part of the coop, and realized they'd been dragging them out of nest box and eating them. Putting some of the clay eggs in the nest box and leaving them there seems to have solved this. Wish I had a 'coop cam' so i knew which hens it was. Hope you get some answers / suggestions, to why they aren't laying, that's a frustrating problem.

 

[Aria]

One hen is 1 year old....the other two were born this Spring. Not
one egg from these three hens. AND they sure EAT and have
very comfortable housing

 

[Pyxis]

How neat. We have 4 hens ....3 mixed breeds NOT LAYING. Never an egg since Spring?????? This is a first for us. And we have one Rhode Island Red that lays one egg a day. Have you every heard of Non laying hen? Could it be too much interbreed?
They seem very active and healthy and we feed them 21% pellets and treats. Aria

Do you add light to your coop?

 

[Aria]

Do you add light to your coop?

We have had Chickens for many years and have NEVER added light.
We think it is the chickens who have been interbreed too often.
Aria

 

[Pyxis]

We have had Chickens for many years and have NEVER added light.
We think it is the chickens who have been interbreed too often.
Aria

That's probably why then Or at least why they're not laying right now. Chickens don't lay when they're not getting enough light to trigger their hormones, so they usually take a break in the Fall and Winter.

I would also consider worming them, if you haven't done that recently.

 

[Aria]

Never wormed. What do you suggest? Chemical? Medicine?
Know nothing about that. Aria

 

[Pyxis]

Never wormed. What do you suggest? Chemical? Medicine?
Know nothing about that. Aria

I prefer to use Safeguard wormer for goats. It's safe, and it kills most worm types.

 

[Aria]

I prefer to use Safeguard wormer for goats. It's safe, and it kills most worm types.

Pyxis, Does it come in powder form? How much? How Often?
Thanks Aria

 

[Pyxis]

Pyxis, Does it come in powder form? How much? How Often?
Thanks Aria

It only comes in a liquid, you have to give it to them orally via a syringe. The dose is .23 ml per pound, and then a repeat dose ten days later as well. You can weigh the chickens for best accuracy but if you can't do that, you can just go using the average weight for the breed and it'll be fine.