Pullets start laying in freezing December!

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

My babies just started laying too! Sort of..

We got an egg every other day but we haven't gotten one for the last two days. DH stuck a fake egg in the nest to encourage them along.


We ate all the eggs except one that fell out of the coop.

My girls love eating eggs their hens laid. They love telling people their pet made them breakfast!

 

[Barnrat]

My 6 pullets started laying the weekend before Thanksgiving, right on schedule. I'm getting 2-4 eggs a day from 6 pullets, and already have 1 double-yolk egg. These are my first chickens, so I'm pretty excited!

Here's the odd thing; I have 2 nesting boxes but they use 1 box almost exclusively. This morning when I checked the boxes I found 2 of them in there both trying to lay at the same time!

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
This must be a typo. I'm sure this isn't at all what Marlinchaser meant to write.

I've never known any chicken to lay every 14 hours. That would be 2 eggs a day, and that very rarely happens. Hens tend to lay every 24-28 hours. Some less.

Definitely age related. They start laying when they're old enough. Period. Even within one breed, maturity rates will vary. Proper diet will help them mature properly, a malnourished pullet will take longer, but regardless, they lay when the body is ready. It has nothing to do with "scaring them into it", "wanting to lay eggs", or any other such nonsense.

 

[epona4]

Quote:
Darn! I was hoping if I wished hard enough or rubbed their tummies I could get my banties to start laying!

And I agree...that "14 hours" threw me a bit. Gotta be a typo.

 

[Marlinchaser]

I didnt type enough they need 14 hours of light

 

[epona4]

Quote:
Ah-Ha!!! Had I been on top of my game...which I rarely am...I'd have figure that out!

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
Wait, doesn't this throw a wrench into the whole factory farmed chicken thing where they keep the lights on for extra hours to have them lay more eggs. Here we are, saying it has little to do with light, and more to do with timing and body-readiness.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Wait, doesn't this throw a wrench into the whole factory farmed chicken thing where they keep the lights on for extra hours to have them lay more eggs. Here we are, saying it has little to do with light, and more to do with timing and body-readiness.

Chickenannie, this referring to when they start to lay, for the very first time, and under normal conditions, length of day does not have a lot to do with when a hen begins to lay for the very first time. Also a response to the mis-typed statement about them laying every 14 hours.

Battery hens, (concentration camp hens) are bred to lay as many eggs as possible, on as little feed as possible, and never brood. In a normal hens life, they slow down or stop at certain times of year due to molting, less light per day, and broody types knock off to brood and raise chicks. They may also consume more feed than a battery hen.

In a battery, lights are kept on and temperatures maintained so that hens lay at peak every day, and never take a day off. Those hens still normally only lay one egg a day. Hens that do not lay as required are culled and replaced. They are usually culled and replaced an a strict schedule anyway.
Ordinary chickens may or may not lay an egg every day. Some do. Some don't. Most of us don't get too upset if they regularly, even if it isn't quite daily.

Chickens don't need to have 14 hours of light every day to lay at all, they need 14 hours a day of light to lay at peak production.

This last week, I added additional light to my coop for the first time ever. After a week, I'm still getting the same low egg production as before. Natural light, they were getting about 8 hours a day, so I set the timer to come on about 4AM, so they're getting almost 13 hours of light. My hens are still molting, so I think I'll let them be for now. Maybe I'll try again after I'm pretty sure they're through molt. Usually mine pick back up just before winter Solstice, when the days are at the shortest, but it's when they finish molting. If they don't, maybe I'll try the light again and see what happens.

 

[chickenannie]

dancing bear, let us know what happens with your experimentation on the light. Wait that sounds transcendental. Well, you know what i mean.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Ohm mani padme hum.....