One egg a week?

[1WildHairL8tr]

Hi everyone.
My Lovey finally laid her first egg the Saturday before last.
She's 6 months old. My Buff Brahma Bantam Beauty.
I was starting to get worried when she didn't lay anything again all week. Checking her vent, checking her poop, watching her eat...
Well, today, I found a beautiful, brown egg in her nest.
I know all hens are different and they take some time to get into the routine of egg-laying, but I don't think I've read about hens going so long between eggs.
Her eggs are perfect and large and she's eating very well. Good color. She's not in any distress.
But one egg a week or every 9 days?
My family will have to share a one egg omelet tonight! HA!

Hence, why I'm looking for more laying hens!
Cathi

 

[bigmike&nan]

Congratulations on your first eggs. My wife and I are new to this chicken raising thing (at least I AM) so I can't offer you too much advice on when the young hen will lay more frequently... Our Girls are about 11 months old now (we bought them from Kim here, a real nice lady to deal with) and we're thinking of getting one more from her if she still has them...

As anecdotal advice I can say from our experience that since we got Our Girls I noticed output increased dramatically when it got sunny and warmer, and fell accordingly when it got overcast. Something to consider... We let Our Girls free range as much as possible, we give them an occasional meal of Ramen Noodles with shredded cabbage and grated carrot throw in, also salads of romaine, cabbage and grated carrot in addition to the Egg Layer meal we get from Agway and some wild bird seed and black oil sunflower seeds. DID I MENTION Our Girls eat pretty good... They show it in the way they act and lay...

Give her time and lots of attention - she'll respond to positive cooing and vibes. They are wonderful creatures. YES ??

 

[1WildHairL8tr]

Absolutely wonderful.
She is such a gift to us.
She does coo and craves attention lately.
I do spoil her too with salads and veggies and mealworms.
Maybe I'll make her a few "special" treats this week and see how that affects her laying.
Thanks for the advice.
Cathi

 

[Redfeathers]

Congrats! It's not unusal at all for new layers to have odd laying times. One of my Buff Orpingtons took four days off after her first egg, she then laid and then took two days off and now that she is in the swing of things, she lays faithfully every day.

 

[Gonzo the Great]

Large egg from a Bantam? Is this a proportional thing? Cuz, i would love to have large sized eggs coming from a compact sized bird.

I'm on week 18 with my birds. The waiting game is very tense. Some of the so-called-hens are now trying to crow, but sound more like screeches. Guess I'm gonna have to clear out the freezer.

 

[Gonzo the Great]

bigmike&nan :

we give them an occasional meal of Ramen Noodles with shredded cabbage and grated carrot throw in, also salads of romaine, cabbage and grated carrot

That's my recipe for chicken stir fry...minus the chicken.

 

[Redfeathers]

 

[1WildHairL8tr]

Well, I say large egg, but I haven't measured it.
It's about as tall as a "grade A large egg" from the grocer, but not as fat.
Does that make sense?

Anyway, I'm just tickled with her. I just want to be sure there's nothing wrong with her.

 

[1WildHairL8tr]

Redfeathers~
Do you think I might get the same kind of production from a bantam?

 

[Redfeathers]

I'm not sure about Bantums, I don't have any. Hopefully someone here that does can answer that. Also Check out Hendersons chicken breed chart to see how your particular breed of bantys lay:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html#p

Hopefully that will help.