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

[Hutton]

put a light in the coop. on at 5pm off at 10pm via a 5$ timer at the dollar store 10/4

 

[nsp135282]

As the folks have said... they will start when ready. I have 11 hens that started laying at about six months (five Buff Orpies, four Barred rocks and two Silver laced Wyandottes). At first it was just one or two eggs a day and they were small to be generous. Now I have been getting 9-11 eggs almost daily for about three weeks. At times I will have nearly five dozen but then folks will buy all I have. Lights definately help. I have had a pair of 40 watt florescent bulbs on morning and night for about three weeks. Morning on at 5:30 and off at 8:00 the evening on at 5:00 and off at 8:30. I believe it keeps them on summer schedule. Research has show that length of day (photoperiod) is more important than temperature for egg production. And don't believe the writings that say one 40 watt bulb is enough. Your are trying to simulate sunlight!

 

[nsp135282]

I just finished reading some of the earlier posts. I had to laugh at some who cited the cost of chickens with no eggs yet. I figured it this way... I had twenty-five chicks ($$$)... lost three to predators while building the coop (more $$$$)... wound up with 11 roosters and 11 hens. I found an Amish family to butcher nine of the roosters for me and they only charged me one rooster! (Don't expect that kind of treatment from all Amish families... I bought them a beef roast as well because I felt guilty ($$) To build the coop, I had to put in a new second driveway ($$$$) and of course run electric to my shed so I could run it to my new coop ($$$). I have enjoyed my chickens a lot and after eating the first two roosters and convincing myself and my wife that they were worth at least $1000.00 each... well now everything is almost free!

 

[jndorsey]

Quote:
That's because they see a supply of free eggs coming their way. Tell them they'll be $2.50/doz and they'll quit asking. I know this for a FACT. I swear I'd rather break the eggs against a tree in the woods than to give them to folks who bugged me for months before my girls matured.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
That's because they see a supply of free eggs coming their way. Tell them they'll be $2.50/doz and they'll quit asking. I know this for a FACT. I swear I'd rather break the eggs against a tree in the woods than to give them to folks who bugged me for months before my girls matured.

LOL are we related? I'm the same way! I may freely give something away but if someone expects it as their due, I'll trash it before I'll give it to them for nothing.

 

[JohnsonHomestead]

my girls and demand hardly ever match up the way I would like. One thing that I have run into enough building up my layers. If they are going to be about 5-6 months old around Aug. or Sept. it means I won't be seeing eggs from them until Mar. or Apr. of the next year unless I have a light set to add about 2-3 hours of daylight in the mornings starting in early Aug.
This works for my area and the laying hens I have.

 

[luvinmychickens]

Congrats for the first egg!

 

[JohnsonHomestead]

Quote:
That's because they see a supply of free eggs coming their way. Tell them they'll be $2.50/doz and they'll quit asking. I know this for a FACT. I swear I'd rather break the eggs against a tree in the woods than to give them to folks who bugged me for months before my girls matured.

Well, the people I give eggs to are the ones that don't normally ask for eggs, the ones I have bugging me about eggs , in my case are the ones paying $2.50, lol. It just seems when they start asking my hens stop laying or slow way down.
One last thing, I have had it explained to me that if you add light, you should do it in the morning hours because the sudden darkness at night can cause issues with them going to roost. Don't know if it holds true, but when I switched to adding 4 hours in the morning over 2 and 2, my production went up

 

[Prisserbabe]

Quote:
Thank you i apprieciate it!

 

[PartridgeRooster]

Quote:
Now imagine your waiting for 400 hens to lay!