Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[smhoekzema]

Ha

Is Rawley practicing his photobomb skills?  He looks like he is thoroughly enjoying himself.


I have never seen a puffed up Silkie.  Sillie looks very ....  dare I say it?....  silly! 
The Mergansers are beautiful.  I've never seen the hood up before.  Quite a display!



  She did it!!!  Big for a first egg.  Did you eat it yet? 

Ha! No not yet. Have to show it to everyone first

 

[katekearby]

The girls are talking to the 'rooster' does this mean eggs are closer?

 

[chickenlindz]

The girls are talking to the 'rooster' does this mean eggs are closer?

Are the squatting? That's how I knew mine were close. Beautiful pics again cheeka!!!!!!!!! Rumples I hope you're getting better!!!!!! Hello everyone else!!!! Hope all is well from those of you that have been more quite recently!

 

[katekearby]

I guess I'm not sure what 'squatting' is regarding the girls, they sit? the silly one is the bucket i use to collect soiled straw, one of the hens goes and 'nests' on it during the day?

 

[BullChick]

Okay, all caught up on here. When dh is home, I rarely get online.
Thanks for the compliments on the "cage". It is a card table with plastic fencing. I put a zip tie on leg one and three. Then just kept the fencing wrapped around to the back. If the fencing were shorter, I would have put bird netting (the nylon weave stuff for tossing over fruit trees) over the table. That would have allowed me to just lift up one side to catch the chickens. This way worked too.
The JGs sold within three hours. Still waiting for a woman to come for some BCM.
Would you believe I got several complaints because ppl wanted roosters? Roosters are a dime a dozen!
Moron is telling the girls that I am dangerous. They just keep eating whatever I have brought them. They occasionally humor him, and go inside. He needs to chill out!!
I have gotten 13, 14, and 11 eggs since selling off nine girls. It is awesome! I need to use up the old eggs. Maybe then getting a dozen a day won't be so great.

 

[gilcamp4]

Hi all, hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread... Such a great read.

Ok well as stands i have 10 girlies and 2 roosters. I get at the most four eggs a day two brown from the buff Sussex. two white, one from a black girl (not sure of breed, black very large comb and white earlobes

) and the other from either a seabright or an exchequer leghorn don't know who tho.

Now the two Sussex that lays are just over a year, but the rest of my girls are all the same age 1 in June, but only two are laying? The other ones are light Sussex, RIR, leghorn.

I've been wondering the reason why the near one year olds still are not Laying when two of the same age are. Confused a little.


3 out of 4 eggs today btw.

jump in any time, that is what i do and i also have hens i have not got eggs from but dh says we do that some do not lay every day, i have 21 hens and get 16 eggs a day, some only lay every other day. that is from dh.

 

[cheeka]

WeeNicole, and Welcome! that's an interesting circumstance of not knowing who's laying and when... so unless you want to color code some vents to see just who is laying... it's a matter of catching them on the nest. perhaps some that you think are not laying actually are... but we would Love to see some pics!

kate, squatting is a submissive position that a hen will use to allow a rooster to mount her. you don't need a rooster around to see the behavior tho'. simply put/hover your hand over their back - if they squat, they put their breast to the ground, lift their wings a bit and stick their rumps in the air. a really ready pullet will also drop her tail to one side. somewhere, I have a few photos of squatting, but they're buried under probably a million photos from this year.

yep, W4W, Sillie does look silly! but so darned adorable I can't get enough! as for the Mergansers, I got about 100 photos of them, and I have him in display positions that show just how much white he sports - I will go through more later today to pick out the very best. I even got him diving for a snack. his butt and underfluff is white too

 

[Wishing4Wings]

The girls are talking to the 'rooster' does this mean eggs are closer?

That's my kind of rooster!

Thank you for my morning belly laugh!

 

[chickenlindz]

I

  That's my kind of rooster!    Thank you for my morning belly laugh! 

I didn't even notice the rooster!! How funny!!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hi all, hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread... Such a great read.

Ok well as stands i have 10 girlies and 2 roosters. I get at the most four eggs a day two brown from the buff Sussex. two white, one from a black girl (not sure of breed, black very large comb and white earlobes

) and the other from either a seabright or an exchequer leghorn don't know who tho.

Now the two Sussex that lays are just over a year, but the rest of my girls are all the same age 1 in June, but only two are laying? The other ones are light Sussex, RIR, leghorn.

I've been wondering the reason why the near one year olds still are not Laying when two of the same age are. Confused a little.


3 out of 4 eggs today btw.

Welcome Nicole! Hello from California.

Really is a mystery about why your hens aren't laying. The first laying season is usually the best, too. Is it possible they are laying in a spot you haven't yet discovered? Could you have some critter stealing/ eating the eggs? In parts of the US there are rat snakes, relatively harmless, but they will eat eggs.

That aside, all the things I can think of that will delay or stop a chicken from laying can be put in a few categories: genetics, environmental, disease/illness, and psychological.

Nothing you can do about genetics. Some just don't lay much and/or start later. Broodiness will prevent laying. Like Cheeka and gilcamp4 said, you could actually have more hens laying, just not every day.

Any changes in routines or environment can freak them out and delay laying for a while. Unless you have ultra sensitive hens, this probably isn't the problem. If they are overcrowded, the stress could cause problems for some. Maybe some need a little supplement to their normal feed; metabolisms will vary.

Possible diseases are many. If it's something like tumors or internal laying, there's not much you can do. Parasites are probably the most common cause of health problems, and fortunately you can treat for these. Worms, mites, and lice are very common and can be passed by wild birds. I would give each hen a thorough exam. If she seems too thin and light (there should be some muscle around the keel bone), parasites are a good bet. If comb and faces are a bit pale, they could be anemic from the evil blood-suckers. Check around their vents. If the skin is red, swollen, or dirty looking, then you should treat for mites. Look for egg casings at the base of feathers around the tail. Also, check the coop late at night with a light. Red mites live in the coop and come out at night while the birds roost to suck their blood. Worms are harder to detect, but a veterinarian can do a fecal test to see if there are worm eggs. Some people treat for worms routinely if they are a known problem in the area. Even if only one bird has signs of parasites, treat the whole flock.

Lastly, psychological. Maybe they're just messing with you!

Playing chicken mind games.

Making you crazy with wait and worry.

The two common approaches to deal with this are 1) to give copious amounts of treats, especially pie, OR 2) beat them at their own game by reading them bedtimes stories from the poultry section of your favorite cookbook.

Hope you can solve the mystery, and we really would love to see pics of your flock!