Oh Vindi, sounds like you will be waiting a while yet. We'll wait with you and try to be entertaining and supportive. Do you like poems? I'll have to fire up the old brain cells and see if I can come up with something silly.
Should I buy eggs or wait it out?
- Thread starter okallthis4eggs
- Start date
Hi all!
I have 14 pullets, one cockerel, all 29 weeks old. I thought for SURE that they would be laying atleast a month ago. They occasionally sing the egg song, are pure red in the face, had started the squatting, but have stopped that....they are Plymouth barred rocks, and SHOULD have been laying last month...the beginning of last month...they have looked and acted ready for about two months now...sigh...
They have a GREAT coop, fresh water 3 times a day, are on layer pellets and have a 200 square foot run also....what's up with them not laying???? I know some breeds, and heritage breeds lay later, but these are just hatchery chickens...I don't have electricity run to the coop, as we were busy with the other stuff, building, ect for the new heritage birds coming in the spring and I was NOT going to get birds first, then build a coop, again...so no electric for this winter. I know adding light can keep them laying....what about keeping them FROM laying?????
They are great birds, friendly, curious, and even MR Roo is great and gentle, but has not even crowed ONCE yet...what's up with that???
Talk about frustrated...I really need the eggs to sell some to buy feed...I added scratch about an hour before sunset, so they are warmer for the night. We are up in Northern NH, so it is cold, but that should be the cause of them not laying...
It's so hard to wait!!!
Any ideas, or others experiences with pullets laying late would be great and much appreciated!!!
Thanks
I have 14 pullets, one cockerel, all 29 weeks old. I thought for SURE that they would be laying atleast a month ago. They occasionally sing the egg song, are pure red in the face, had started the squatting, but have stopped that....they are Plymouth barred rocks, and SHOULD have been laying last month...the beginning of last month...they have looked and acted ready for about two months now...sigh...
They have a GREAT coop, fresh water 3 times a day, are on layer pellets and have a 200 square foot run also....what's up with them not laying???? I know some breeds, and heritage breeds lay later, but these are just hatchery chickens...I don't have electricity run to the coop, as we were busy with the other stuff, building, ect for the new heritage birds coming in the spring and I was NOT going to get birds first, then build a coop, again...so no electric for this winter. I know adding light can keep them laying....what about keeping them FROM laying?????
They are great birds, friendly, curious, and even MR Roo is great and gentle, but has not even crowed ONCE yet...what's up with that???
Talk about frustrated...I really need the eggs to sell some to buy feed...I added scratch about an hour before sunset, so they are warmer for the night. We are up in Northern NH, so it is cold, but that should be the cause of them not laying...
It's so hard to wait!!!
Any ideas, or others experiences with pullets laying late would be great and much appreciated!!!
Thanks
- Oct 5, 2013
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Oh it's been so long since we've had a poem!
Haven't heard from Roger... Wonder if he's still sleeping off the food coma from the Venison?
Picked up 5 EE babies today! It's not my imagination but these new ones are sooooo much smaller than the last bunch (and I'm sure because the last bunch already had little wing feathers instead of fluff. These ones are all fluff). Is that even possible? Because I actually got these a day later than the first bunch. Maybe I just need to get a closer look! Which will mean PICTURES!
mithious ~ Welcome ~ 29 weeks is a long wait, should happen any day now... but then again... you said they are BR's... so ... totally could be that they've decided to play Roger's hand and torture you...
from what I've read regarding adding light... the light bulbs put off a flicker, that we cannot see, but the chickens can. it's like having a constant disco ball... it's been shown to cause irritable moods and pecking behavior. as for my 2 BR's, one started around 28 weeks of age, and the other maybe a week later, so keep on hanging on - they'll come!
I was up at the (butt) crack of dawn. all the bantam boys were still up on the roost, but they were divvied up between 2 roosts, so I know they'd been moving about before I got out there. I went to them first, mainly because it was so quiet in there... all is well and they hopped down one by one for breakfast with no bumping or squabbling. phew! Next to the big boys, who are fine... then on to the dome. Peach and her flock were towards the back, so I put my boot through the ice on the water buckets and started scooping feed. the flock was more interested in drinking than eating for the first minute, which gave me time to fill the 4 feed stations, give one to Peach's crew and put myself between to make sure they ate undisturbed. Blu and Betty tried to muscle their way in, but were thwarted by me... they stuffed their faces and made their way toward the front of the dome. I just watched. Peach had a nice long drink, which encouraged the rest of them to do the same. by the time I left, they were moving into the store bought coop to check it out... I think it's going to be fine. I do have seriously mellow birds overall... I had my visitor last weekend (the future processor of Carl) He was certain that the flock would never let him walk among them (because he's a stranger...) he hand fed them all, held Peach... and was amazed that he didn't get flapped in the face... I'm a proud Hooster (human rooster?)
I don't understand why Poetry often just flows through my brain so easily and then I undergo a period of several months where I can't rhyme feather to leather... off to work! have a great day everyone!
from what I've read regarding adding light... the light bulbs put off a flicker, that we cannot see, but the chickens can. it's like having a constant disco ball... it's been shown to cause irritable moods and pecking behavior. as for my 2 BR's, one started around 28 weeks of age, and the other maybe a week later, so keep on hanging on - they'll come!
I was up at the (butt) crack of dawn. all the bantam boys were still up on the roost, but they were divvied up between 2 roosts, so I know they'd been moving about before I got out there. I went to them first, mainly because it was so quiet in there... all is well and they hopped down one by one for breakfast with no bumping or squabbling. phew! Next to the big boys, who are fine... then on to the dome. Peach and her flock were towards the back, so I put my boot through the ice on the water buckets and started scooping feed. the flock was more interested in drinking than eating for the first minute, which gave me time to fill the 4 feed stations, give one to Peach's crew and put myself between to make sure they ate undisturbed. Blu and Betty tried to muscle their way in, but were thwarted by me... they stuffed their faces and made their way toward the front of the dome. I just watched. Peach had a nice long drink, which encouraged the rest of them to do the same. by the time I left, they were moving into the store bought coop to check it out... I think it's going to be fine. I do have seriously mellow birds overall... I had my visitor last weekend (the future processor of Carl) He was certain that the flock would never let him walk among them (because he's a stranger...) he hand fed them all, held Peach... and was amazed that he didn't get flapped in the face... I'm a proud Hooster (human rooster?)
I don't understand why Poetry often just flows through my brain so easily and then I undergo a period of several months where I can't rhyme feather to leather... off to work! have a great day everyone!
You are sooo right Cheeka, it IS torture!!! I so hope they do start laying soon...feeding them without their help in eggs is getting harder, as they are eating more with the cold...Thanks for the support 
good morning today, I got 7 eggs, have not had that many in a while, and looks like my sex links are starting to lay, I got no eggs yesterday but today made up for it, have 29 hens so should be getting more, I have had eggs for years and never went this long with out eggs. my big rooster loves my gold hen, every morning his is on top of her.
I was up at the (butt) crack of dawn.
I don't understand why Poetry often just flows through my brain so easily and then I undergo a period of several months where I can't rhyme feather to leather... off to work! have a great day everyone!
I dunno, I thought that was very poetic!!!
lol, thanks W4W... butt crack of dawn comes a few ticks after stupid o'clock...
I managed to get home around 3, which is a lot earlier than I expected - I let everyone out as soon as I arrived, knowing that I would have to catch at least 12 chickens to return them to where they now live... turned out to be only 8. the 2 D'Uccle boys never came out, Sam and Gil have always lived there so I wasn't counting on having to catch them... and I didn't... it wasn't too difficult all in all, and it was gorgeous this afternoon, so I'm glad they got some time out. Got some nice pics too... Morgana was literally posing... here she is:
gimme Pie and I'll pose
Sillie is getting big, but is still no bigger than a LF fluffy butt... I got a good glimpse of gorgeous bright blue earlobes today, couldn't get a pic of them, but I will soon!!!
I managed to get home around 3, which is a lot earlier than I expected - I let everyone out as soon as I arrived, knowing that I would have to catch at least 12 chickens to return them to where they now live... turned out to be only 8. the 2 D'Uccle boys never came out, Sam and Gil have always lived there so I wasn't counting on having to catch them... and I didn't... it wasn't too difficult all in all, and it was gorgeous this afternoon, so I'm glad they got some time out. Got some nice pics too... Morgana was literally posing... here she is:
gimme Pie and I'll pose
Sillie is getting big, but is still no bigger than a LF fluffy butt... I got a good glimpse of gorgeous bright blue earlobes today, couldn't get a pic of them, but I will soon!!!
oh yes. I almost forgot. 2 eggs.
- Oct 5, 2013
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2weeks old and in the "awkward stage"
EEBabies!
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