Great idea! I cut a hole in a pumpkin , but none of my gang was interested. Is it because they are still young? (Hatch date 9/16/15)
Pennsylvania!! Unite!!
- Thread starter LeBlackbird
- Start date
Chickens are very much a 'monkey see, monkey do' type critter, when introducing youngsters to something new I have usually had to repeatedly tap the treat with my index finger while sounding a 'chook, chook, chook' noise in a higher pitch than normal. I do this with any goodies we give them when little to imitate a mother hen, once the chicks associate that tapping and sound with treat they will try about anything, and once you get the bravest (or biggest beggar) to take something then the whole crew wants to try it.
I don't even put a hole in the pumpkin. After two days, they pecked it, liked it and were inside it eating in no time.
emorems0
Songster
Any reason to worry if my sister's hens still aren't laying? 4 of them are old enough that hatch mates have been laying for a few months already. I think the RIR from hubs dad was February or march, and then 3 from chiqueschicks and when I picked them up in october he said he was getting a few eggs a day out of that pen and at least one of the group I took laid an egg in my crate the next day... I assume it was one that took the chicken train west bc none of the ones that went to my sister are laying. I was up at Thanksgiving and their combs all looked bright red, it doesn't make sense to me that she still isn't getting any eggs.
Is it possible they are laying and they are just getting eaten right away? She has yet to see any evidence of eggs, she does have an egg shaped rock in each nest box. These birds are 8-9 months old with bright red combs, happy and healthy. She has yet to get a single egg. What gives?
Is it possible they are laying and they are just getting eaten right away? She has yet to see any evidence of eggs, she does have an egg shaped rock in each nest box. These birds are 8-9 months old with bright red combs, happy and healthy. She has yet to get a single egg. What gives?
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Do they free range? They could be hiding eggs somewhere or even just really late bloomers. I have a Marans girl who hatched in early February that just started laying about a week or two ago. She's also very persistent about hiding her eggs and has never once laid an egg in the box like everyone else does. The neighbor brought me over a couple of her eggs that he found under his grill the other day lol. Good luck!
emorems0
Songster
They do not free range... they have a 10'x 10' run, but there isn't even any brush in it that they could be hiding them in. My worry was that if the first egg layer started eating her eggs then the others learned it and followed suit when they came into lay and now she has a coop full of egg eaters. The likelihood of that happening is slim though, right? My sister would see some evidence of an egg at some point, even just a piece of broken shell, right?
I just feel bad because I specifically sold her on getting birds at point of lay and it's been since Halloween and still no eggs. I also worry that something is wrong with her birds since others in the groups they came from have been laying since September. I don't want her to have a bad first chicken experience!
Mary Poopins is having another rough molt this year. Same time as last year, poor girl. Her butt is pretty bare too. At least it will be warmer this week.
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I think it is very day length related. I'm getting very few eggs at the moment. We are approaching the shortest day of the year.
You are right about the day length. Adding a light to the coop (I use a timer to turn the lights on from 3 AM to 8 AM) helps, but I believe the colder weather is a factor too. If you were a hen, this wouldn't feel like a good time to start a family, right? Modern chickens are bred to lay a lot of eggs, but they still are affected by their more primal instincts about when to start and stop.
My niece was lamenting last night that she had orders for 8 dozen eggs this week, but only had 3 dozen to sell. That's averaging 5 eggs a day from over 100 laying age pullets. Many of these are young, but age-wise should be at POL now or soon. Since I'm not setting eggs (except Reese Legbars and turkeys) I don't really mind that production is down now, as long as it picks up in January.
So, for everyone that is disappointed in their flock's production, my advice is to view this as a time they rest and recuperate for a physically taxing season of laying that is ahead of them. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
The best "winter layers" in my flock right now are the Reese Legbars, I'm getting about a dozen eggs a week from 6 pullets. Not that impressive I guess, but I'm getting similar production from the 9 Rhodebars, and they were the ones that really impressed me last winter. In the Rhodebar's defense, they are a year older and some are still coming out of molt. It goes without saying that I'm very impressed by those Reese birds. If I could pick which group I would like to lay well now, it would be them.
I don't think their getting eaten, because you would see the evidence of the left over white in the bedding at least. I can't think of a disease that would stop all of them from laying, with no other obvious symptoms, at the same time. My guess is that your environment (you have the other birds from this same flock, no?) is just a bit more condusive to laying and her birds will begin to lay shortly. You can google 'Poultry Judging Production Layers' and should find some videos on how tell if a bird is laying yet by measuring distance between pelvic bones, abdominal capacity and loss of pigment.
Mary Poopins is having another rough molt this year. Same time as last year, poor girl. Her butt is pretty bare too. At least it will be warmer this week.
Oh wow! Poor thing, she's a wreck.
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