Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[BullChick]

ONE

ONE......Today Wilma laid ONE! she's such a little champion!

Woo hoo! The little pie eater is laying Momma lots of presents!
See? A dog leaves a present, we get upset! I am starting to see just how spoiled chickens are.

 

[cheeka]

I'm working on decorating Wilma's second egg. I successfully blew it, without any shell fragments getting in it either! it was so cute, the yoke was about the size of a nickel. I mixed in a little half and half, and made a batter for a little bit of fried chicken.... it was so good! and it was really fun to use the egg for a recipe.
I'm penciling a design on the shell and will go over it with a Sharpie marker when i am satisfied with the drawing...
i haven't blown her first egg, or Blu's first egg yet, but I will!

 

[okallthis4eggs]

FIVE

FIVE.......Today we laid FIVE

We slowed down a little
Since we begin
Five more tomorrow
And dad will have ten
Roger eats pie but its not fair
We do the work and she don't care
So be warned Roger at least you should try
Before you become part of a chicken pot pie

 

[jahphotogal]

Um... Pie???

Someone asked what I'm feeding mine -- grower and oyster shells on the side and whatever they munch around the garden. Still no eggs, almost 24 weeks now.

 

[cheeka]

jahphotogal, can you switch to layer feed? or do you have younger chicks in with the 24 week olds? it really shouldn't matter... sounds like they get plenty and options for oyster shell... but it will happen soon, they are the right age to start, my gang is part of a 26 chick rescue, and they are the only ones that have started laying, and they have just started... my friends are a wee bit jealous that my gang started first. it's the pie... they wouldn't listen... Pie and Poetry... that's key

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Happiness is......PIE. Happy chickens lay more eggs. Never underestimate the importance of pie.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I get all the terms confused, starter, grower, flockmastr, all that...check the protein percentage, you want it higher. Free range is good, but depending on the area it can be pretty well eaten clean of all the best stuff. Adding a pie, is adding nutrients, fresh vitamins, that can only help. There are alot of supplements you can give, but it really doesn't need to be so difficult, they may just need a little more time. Be patient...and make sure they aren't laying in a hidden nest somewhere.

 

[jahphotogal]

I have some layer feed, just waiting to run out of the grower (pretty much out now.) I do have a couple of younger pullets, but they're not that much younger - I think they're all 20 weeks or close to it. I do supplement with kitchen scraps (I haven't make it look like a pretty pie yet!) - tomatoes, grapes, whatever else I have. It's true that they may have eaten every bug in their enclosure - it's not all that big (maybe 500-600 square feet... there are several sets of bushes they can hide under but I'm pretty sure there are no eggs - checking every day.

I'm going to get a new nesting box today and see if that encourages them. Right now I have two buckets as nesting boxes but I'm not sure the girls can fit inside them - they're so big and fluffy!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

At twenty weeks you still have plenty of time to obsess over it! Go ahead and mix the old feed in with the new. I am beginning to supplemet my flock with an animal based protein dog food to make up for the lack of bug based animal protein. (Recommended to me by a well known experienced chicken guy) I also ferment my scratch so they get all the nutritional value, and planting winter rye and wheat. I am hoping we won't be buried under snow for 3 months solid but if so I will deal with it.

 

[BullChick]

I'm going to get a new nesting box today and see if that encourages them. Right now I have two buckets as nesting boxes but I'm not sure the girls can fit inside them - they're so big and fluffy!

Nest boxes are the bane of my existence. We were doing great! A cat litter box made a good community nest for my five girls. Two or three could get in there comfortably. Then I added the chicks to the big coop, and they wanted a different place. They chose the floor in another section of the coop (I agreed with their decision, and was about to move the box there anyway). Now I have a $20 nest box they don't like. I got two eggs in there yesterday. All 4 were on the floor this morning. I will try one more thing, then give up. I get eggs, they get to lay where they want. I really hope the chicks use the boxes, though.
As for the size, I too questioned size needed. Seems their body matters more than their fluffiness.