Ok really! WHO IS SICK OF IT?! ~UPDATED!~

[jazzymitchell]

We have 45 hens and all of them were 4 or 5 months old when we bought them...that was almost 5 months ago...so far we get a steady 2 whole eggs a day! Sometimes 3...my husband is getting very irritated. So either we arnt doing something right or someone lied to us when we bought them.

erg.

 

[bwinn01]

Well, this makes me feel a little better, my Auracanas are 6 months old and no eggs yet. I have been afraid that the leghorns were eating them before I could get there. I have to race the leghorns to the brown eggs from the red stars. On days that I am at home, I check the nest constantly. Have actually had to thump a chicken on the head to get an egg before she pecked it.

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

Hmmm. I have 4 buff Orp's (one an accidental rooster, but so pretty and so, well, cocky, I can't bear to part with him, even tho I live in the city), along with 2 BRs and 2 Easter Eggers (Arcaunas). At 5 months, the Buffs started laying tiny "pullet eggs" barely larger than a walnut, every three or four days. The barred rocks didn't join the egg-laying club until they hit 5 1/2 months, and even now at 6 months old, are not regular layers. The Americaunas are built smaller and seems to be growing up more slowly than the others, offering no hint of egg-laying at all so far.

Two things I do that might be a little different: one is, I had my carpenter who built my coop put CLEAR ripply roofing on the center of the roof, so they get as much daylight as possible even when they're in the coop. Two is, I feed the recommended amount of layer rations for a whole day TWO TIMES a day. They do seem to eat it all up, and they do not seem to be getting fat at all. Along with the layer rations, I offer a good quality treat food at least once a day, from the base and leaves of a cauliflower, to a pint of cottage cheese, to good fresh greens (in moderation), to nice warm porridge (from wheat bran, and not their fave, but they do eat it), to their faves of melon, brown rice (cooked in chicken broth instead of water....), fresh corn on the cob, and hard-boiled eggs.

Hope you get some eggs soon!! I now have plenty to share with the friends who keep the chooks fed when I'm traveling or sick.

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

Quote:
I've read that filling a few blown-out eggshells with hot mustard will cure an egg-pecker PDQ.

 

[Noobchick]

Quote:
This sounds like us!! So far, 2 of our 6 pullets are laying and we've gotten 5 eggs from them. I'm not going to even do the exact math on cost per egg because it's too scary. Besides, I knew going into this that cheap eggs weren't the point.

To those still waiting: hang in there!! Mine started when I'd pretty much given up hope of seeing eggs before spring. And they're the most delicious eggs I've ever eaten, not just because they're by far the freshest but also because I know firsthand all the work that went into them (from me AND from the girls!).

Edited to add: Make that 6 eggs! Yay!

 

[ke_ben]

I didn't read all of the responses so some of my advice might have already been covered. I start calling them "freeloaders" and telling them that they had better start earning their keep and paying (with eggs) for their room and board. I usually try that for a week or 2 and then get everything setup and ready, leave it for a few days and ..............









............. process the meaties out in front of the pen.

After that I just have to get out the "killing cones" if production slumps.

 

[betsylou]

well i'm glad i'm not the only one! i guess i expected to see all the nests full of eggs on the day they turned 5 months, lol! mine are about five and a week now and i'm checking constantly!

 

[Kacey's Krazee's]

Mine are laying, but when they start getting lazy, and hubby starts complaining to them, how much their feed costs... free loaders etc...

Then, he gets the machete down from the roof, and swings it around in front of the girls.... and warns them what he plans on doing with it, if they don't start producing....

I swear they understand, production picks up for awhile !!!!!

 

[Evelle]

Quote:
They were more than a year old. I would have been angry and culled them too. I don't have pet chickens (as entertaining and cute as they are) I have a flock of egg layers. They are expected to feed my family and they will do it, either with eggs or in soup. And I'm a great parent, probably partially because I know the difference between animals and people.

Well, I must say, most of the time, when a hen isn't laying when she is that old, she either has some sort of problem, or she isn't getting everything she needs to live happily. { Yes, happily, many hens won't lay if they are unhappy, angry, or scared } Hens won't lay if they don't get enough sunlight, they need a LOT of greens along with enough calcium to make their shells, enough space to be happy, if other hens are bullying them they sometimes won't lay, they may not be getting everything they need from their feed too, hens love to scratch around and mine lay best when they are allowed to free range. Some breeds have a laying "cycle" and it isn't the hen's fault, that's just the way God made her. They could be going through a molt, or be broody. I must agree that lack of laying eggs when humans { Who aren't the ones who have to lay the eggs } think they should be laying is by no means a reason to cull hens. I don't mean to offend anyone, I'm just voicing my opinion and trying to be helpful.

alright first off the ones i butchered i already decided to butcher before i got them... thats why i got the kind i did.. they stoped laying not because they were sick but because they were multing i have over 40 chickens and i didnt want to wait till they were done multing to get eggs from chickens over a year old
my grandfather raised chickens all his life and he told me if i want to eat my chickens DONT WAIT LONGER THAN A YEAR!!
they get tough.. so it was just good timing (sorry i needed to word it differantly) im not going to cull a chicken that is laying great i have 6 out of the yearlings that are still laying very well so it saved them from an ax.. im not a savage beast who killed my young chicken just cause they arent laying. i culled them because it was time to down size!!
ALSO my chickens a very healthy AND happy!!! they get treats everyday (my husband and i buy better bread for them then us) come in my house when i open the door. i spend many hours outside with them. they get organic feed no fillers or chemicals in their food. MY BIRDS EAT BETTER THAN ME!!!!!! and thanks for making me sound like an abusive animal owner!! i dont apprecate it thank you!! THEY ARE CHICKENS!!! and i EAT MY CHICKENS!!!! i have a few... BUT FEW that i dont care if they lay or not..
i am a farmer! if an animal is not meeting its reason why i have it i kill it and EAT it to meet another reason why i have it.

my chickens are very well loved!! AND so are my three very beautiful girls!!!
also... they have tons of room 5+ acers in fact(+ because they go into my neighbors yard at times) in northern Idaho. they have a bigger coop then the trailer i use to live in until my house was built over 35 feet long and im not sure how wide but its HUGE!!

the coop is the one with the window its attacted to my barn, as a leanto
so sometimes they dont lay because its winter and they dont get enough sun.

 

[cackler]

This thread cracked me up!! It is SOOOO true!! When I first got my girls a couple of years ago, and then some more the next year - and even a couple of more the next - all was well. Everybody 'contributed'. All of my coworkers had enough eggs that I was getting tired of their responses to 'need any yet?' and would hear - 'no - still have some'. Now, now that the girls are aging - and 'Chicken Noodle' (lovingly named of course) is about 5 - and I am getting maybe 3 - maybe even 6 eggs a day from my 16 girls.....of course now everybody says 'you still have me on your egg list - don't you??". "Yes - I do." I say.