Seriously, 30 weeks and no eggs?

[Renee']

Do they free range? If yes, make sure you look for hidden nests, EVERY WHERE! My friends hidden nest was on top of her horse trailer!

 

[new chick 203]

mine only range for about an hour a day, while supervised. I've thought about the possibility of a hidden egg, so I check all the places I see them going and nothing yet.

 

[Orp]

I am also anxiously awaiting eggs from my 23 week old chickens. The post about confining them was helpful. My neighbor who has had chickens for years thinks they might be hiding them. My "coop" is a box stall in my barn that I encased in chicken wire and I close up at night. I have nesting boxes on the wall but I have never seen them use them -- until this morning. One buff orpington was in a nest sitting and when I let the others out she stayed there! I watched her for some time. She might get up, look under her, then sit back down again. About 2:30 this afternoon I checked -- no egg. Soon I hope!

 

[swimmer]

I'm thinking mine are holding off until Christmas Day!

 

[elizabethlongwood]

You aren't alone! We have two 30 week old pullets( BO and Wyandotte) that haven't laid a first egg yet, a 27-28 week old EE that hasn't started laying yet, and a 30 week old that was laying 5-6 eggs a week since she was 22 weeks, but quit last Thursday. So.... no eggs for us!

BTW, woodmort and Dixiedoodle, I always love to read your posts

 

[new chick 203]

I feel so much better now, thanks everyone. Its easy to wonder if you did something wrong. none of my girls have ever gone in to the nest boxes as far as I've seen. Will they start to notice them when it's time?

 

[Cat's Coop]

I had 2 leghorns that laid their first egg at 19 weeks! RIR's were right behind them at 21 weeks. BO's came in third at 24 weeks. My EE's started at 25 weeks. I started them on layer pellets at 18 weeks. Unfortunatly they are going through their first molt at the same time!!!! Getting 2 eggs only out of 25!

 

[Oscgrr]

disqard, I don't take any offense at all. If nobody told me I was wrong, I'd stay wrong. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm welcome advice. Now for my counterpoint and please don't take this as arguementative but rather as discussionary: Many years ago when I was looking into getting chickens (it took three years to come to fruition) I picked up a book whose title and whereabouts are now a mystery (my four-year-old took it for a coloring book.) It was a fairly comprehensive, albeit thin, book that went from hatching to slaughter and all the steps in between and it was recommended feeding medicated chick feed up to 8-12 weeks old but not beyond 12 weeks because it could interfere with the natural developement of their imune sytem. That makes sense to me and considering that the guy at the feed store pretty much went along with that and I hadn't gotten any information to the contrary, they were switched at eight weeks. I wasn't looking to accelerate the laying process, I'm a patient person. I only wanted to do the right thing. Do layer pellets pose a danger to young developing chickens? I guess they might, I don't know but I hadn't heard it before now. I'm not saying that your information is suspect, I think it makes sense and I would have considered it had I been aware of it at the time. Again, no offense taken. In fact, thanks for something to think about for when I need to get more chicks.

 

[elieugene6]

They will come I have a bantam polish that is almost 11 months. She just laid her first egg for me today. Gives me hope for my cochin who is almost 10 months.

 

[dsqard]

Quote:
No offense taken at all.

I did take my chicks off medicated chick starter around 12 weeks but fed them grower food until about twenty weeks old. I wanted to keep thier protien intake up and still not offer the additional calcium in the layer food. I have also supplemented their feed with game bird food to increase the protien intake as well. I just mixed some of the game food in with the grower food. I started them on the layer food at 20 weeks in case they did start laying around that time and needed the calcium. I know quite a few people on here that just feed the grower food for the additional protien and because they have flocks with birds that are all different ages. All they do differently is offer oyster shell free choice for the pullets/hens that need it.