Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

okay... # of chickens... 41

13 roosters. plus the silkie. (=14 birds)

5 hens that are 18 months old. they have pretty much stopped laying. I get 1-2 eggs a week from each of them. if I'm lucky that is...

13 pullets that are 11 months old. they lay about every other day, to every 3rd day.

3 pullets that are 6 months old, (2 Marans, 1 EE ) 2 (m's) which lay nearly every day, the 3rd (ee) has only laid 3 eggs so far.

4 pullets that are also 6 months old (the Cochins) who aren't laying at all yet.

1 bantam Marans pullet who is about 15-16 weeks old, not laying yet either.

I have 2 Eggs for the day so far, 1 nice blue egg that looks like it was laid from the roost, and 1 dark brown Maran's egg that 18 month old BR Betty was sitting on, so probably Betty will lay today.

during the peak of Spring and Summer I was averaging 17 Eggs a day, from 20 hens, until I lost Rose at the end of July.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

How many chickens do you guys all have now and how many eggs are you getting (and were getting before molt/less daylight kicked in)? You guys are making me nervous with how many girls I got. After this week I'll have 10. And in the spring I'm going to get at least 5 more. But now I'm nervous I won't have enough eggs! LOL I NEED MORE CHICKENS! WHICH MEANS I NEED ANOTHER COOP! My husband would KILL me!

I have 11 large girls, 16-18 months old. All but 2 are hatchery chicks. There are 10 different breeds. At their peak, I was getting 7-8 eggs per day, plus or minus 2. 10 was my best day; never had a perfect day.

Now with molting, shorter days, older girls, and a suspected internal layer, I usually get 3 or 4 eggs a day, sometimes less, rarely more. I expect fewer eggs next year.

The 5 Serama girls are of laying age, 4 are six months and one is 10 months. Like jchny said, they seem to lay about every other day, so we average 2-3 tiny eggs per day. I am not sure if all 5 are laying, but believe so. Best day was 4 eggs.

If you got chicks bred for laying (ie Comets or Leghorns) you can expect each pullet to lay 5-6 eggs per week. Dual purpose breeds will be somewhat less, 4-5 per week the first year, depending on the breed (Roger excepted). Heritage breeds generally lay fewer eggs per week, but will continue laying for the majority of their lives (maybe 5+ years). Hatchery stock is known to drop off sharply after the second year. I suspect I will have quite a few free loaders by 2015!

But they are pets, so will have a home here.

Give yourself a good year or more with the chickens before you plan a new coop (and give your hubby heart palpitations!). The first year is lovely- beautiful, sleek, perfectly feathered girls that keep you well supplied with eggs. The end of the second year sees some ratty looking, molting chickens, slow feather regrowth, and erratic laying. (although my Australorp and Orpington have always looked gorgeous!

)

Ideally, I would rotate my stock, adding 3-4 new pullets a year and making soup stock or dog food out of the older, non productive hens, keeping a total of 10-12 at one time (the limit of my coop). Of course I don't live in an ideal world but in LyndaLand, where everyone lives happily ever after...

...I wish.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Wow, thats a long haul for DH. We have snow coming tues, UGH NOOO!!!!
My eggs are -0- except the pekin and quail. I thinks its just too many birds in all the coops.
Too many roos, and still working on winterizing, then will process more of them.
My suspected seramas lay 2 tiny eggs every other day.
OEGB gives me one 2x a week.

Wow, snow huh? I can never complain about the weather on this thread because you guys always have it more extreme. For example, it got below 40 last night and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.

It's been 12 years since we've had snow here, and it stayed on the ground for over 3 days. My older boy, who was 3 at the time, remembers making a snowman. My younger son has been in the snow (up in the Sierra) but has never seen it actually snowing. He wants to catch a falling snowflake; it's on his bucket list (he's only 12!).

It is surprising that your chickens have stopped completely. Overcrowding could be it, but it's probably lack of light. Did you worm them? It's a good time- no wasted eggs. I started supplementing with a good quality dry cat food (#1 ingredient is fish meal) and now, the few eggs that we get are really large compared to before the cat food treats, and my Welsummer grew in some gorgeous new feathers. We also uncovered the portion of the coop roof that is transparent corrugated plastic, so they get a bit more light in there. We cover it with tin during the summer to keep it cooler.

I wonder if you do have Serama!

Yellow or green legs, straight smallish combs, size significantly smaller than OEGB, and generally a friendly (not flighty) temperament. They don't usually mind being handled. Got any pics?
I have been hoarding Serama eggs in the fridge for a while. My hubs kept saying you should use them, why are you keeping so many? I made the boys scrambled eggs this morning and used 16 Serama eggs! I had 4 more myself. So yummy. My hoard is now almost gone!

Gulp!

Got to go out and prepare for the small chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. Preparing will, of course, cause it NOT to rain, so then I have to wash the car, which will even the odds.
Stay warm in the snow!

 

[gilcamp4]

we have 29 hens 2 roosters but right now only getting 4 to 5 eggs, we have different age hens, 15 are not ready to lay yet, they will start the end of mth I hope, we were getting 10 a day.

 

[cheeka]

Sillie Sue today. the winds were blowing and the poof on top would go with the flow...


I got lots of pics of Sue... but don't want to bore y'all... kind of repetitious after a while... and Isis finally held still long enough to get a couple of pics! her tail is still short, but all the feathers are there! she has darkened compared to pre-molt, and she has lots more blue speckles on her head

 

[chickenlindz]

Thank you guys! W4W you talked me off a ledge! I'll enjoy what I have!!!

On another note can I vent? I need a temporary run for the chickies for when they go out (still have a good 4-6 weeks). Anyway my husband won't help cause he's exhausted doing all the clearing for the fencing, permanent run (so really can't be upset)... But I'm so frustrated. I asked my dad to help but he just wants to build it his way! I hate being a girl sometimes... I feel so utterly inept. I work in clinical research for pharma so I can honestly say that I make a difference in someone's life (we do a lot of oncology, HIV, etc....no makeup) but that doesn't make me feel any better knowing how totally crappy I'll make this thing if I don't have some help.

My chickies have officially become therapy as I watch them to make myself feel better.

 

[cheeka]

CLindz... don't underestimate yourself! I built the Chicken Dome myself, granted, I had to enlist some help with the skinning of the frame with hardware cloth... but it was my brainchild from the beginning. it's been standing, un-breached, for over a year, and is in perfect condition.

 

[chickenlindz]

 CLindz... don't underestimate yourself!  I built the Chicken Dome myself, granted, I had to enlist some help with the skinning of the frame with hardware cloth... but it was my brainchild from the beginning.  it's been standing, un-breached, for over a year, and is in perfect condition.  

I know I can build something so now the trick is to uninvite my dad over. I'll have to go back through this thread to see a pic of the dome. All I want is something similar or an a-frame. Thing is I don't want to use pressure treated wood.... And it's my house so I don't have too... Ugggh sometimes it's not worth it asking for help! esp from family!!!! Tho I shouldn't complain! I really have it good. It's just that dads will always be dads! And husbands will always be husbands! LOL and I love these frustrating guys in my life!!!

 

[cheeka]

lol, yes asking for help can be complicated! always have to bare with the advice... the album for the Chicken Dome is at the bottom of my profile page... it used to be part of my signature, but alas... I changed it to a video... there's been some changes since it was built, but really only the placement of the roosts... here it is, winterized. it's not as dark inside as it appears... it's 12' x 15' x 5.75'. using the deep litter method, it built up and I had a period of time where I couldn't stand up straight without bumping my head on the roof... won't let that happen again. I turn it and remove excess every Sunday.

 

[lindz8504]

I got 6 eggs again today. 5 from the Comets and 1 from Clarabelle. Also got some pictures this afternoon.

Snickers checking out Sydney!



Bonnie.... not sure what kind she is. Any Suggestions?


Harriette... she is the G.Comet with the black tail feather.


Clyde

Hershey

Snickers


Gertrude... I think she may be part BR... Check out that crop! Usually the first to the feed bowl and the last one to leave!


The babies! Not so little anymore! The marans are bigger than Clarabelle!