My hens were 19 weeks old on Wednesday and havent started laying yet. They are all heavy breeds so Im guessing thats why its taking so long.
I always kept Production Reds in the past and they would start laying between 3 and 4 months but they also burn out pretty quickly so I decided to try my hand at some different breeds this time. I have never had this much trouble with chickens before in my life.
The EE hen just up and died...she was fine yesterday morning and I didn't notice any odd behavior during the day but when I went to go close the chicken house up for the night she was sitting by the outside feeder and wasn't in the house with everyone else. I picked her up and put her in the house and she was sitting right where I left her this morning dead....is it possible that she died from a lodged egg even though she had not started laying yet?
I see no sign of illness in the rest of the flock. They are all bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Any thoughts?
I always kept Production Reds in the past and they would start laying between 3 and 4 months but they also burn out pretty quickly so I decided to try my hand at some different breeds this time. I have never had this much trouble with chickens before in my life.
The EE hen just up and died...she was fine yesterday morning and I didn't notice any odd behavior during the day but when I went to go close the chicken house up for the night she was sitting by the outside feeder and wasn't in the house with everyone else. I picked her up and put her in the house and she was sitting right where I left her this morning dead....is it possible that she died from a lodged egg even though she had not started laying yet?
I see no sign of illness in the rest of the flock. They are all bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Any thoughts?