Ok, I have had the Polish ladies for about 4 months now, and they are all about a year old at this point. Not one single egg from the buggers yet! The roo crows and is CERTAINLY a "man" around the coop, and the ladies are all making noise and SHOULD be ready to lay by now, right??
And what about these BR girls I got a little while back (10 hens)?? When I got them, they were all finishing up a molt, but that is done now. They all have proper lay boxes, and are about 18 months old. Their little Maran roo has finally decided to to become a man and has started his crowing habit the past few days.
I supplement their coops with light now that the weather has changed (on at 7am, off at 10pm), they eat better than I do most days (the 16% layer food from either TSC or the farm store, plus they are my "extra food trash cans" around here for anything and everything), get fresh water a few times a day, have good lay boxes (2 in the PL coop, 4 in the BR coop, all lined with pine shavings and straw). Their coops are WAY bigger than "needed," and they all have extra large runs that they are allowed to free range in all day.
So, any suggestions? I'm about to go grab a few pounds of crushed red pepper or something!! I love them all to death, but if they don't start laying soon, I'm not sure what to do. I am spending LOTS of time and money for them to be pets...
And what about these BR girls I got a little while back (10 hens)?? When I got them, they were all finishing up a molt, but that is done now. They all have proper lay boxes, and are about 18 months old. Their little Maran roo has finally decided to to become a man and has started his crowing habit the past few days.
I supplement their coops with light now that the weather has changed (on at 7am, off at 10pm), they eat better than I do most days (the 16% layer food from either TSC or the farm store, plus they are my "extra food trash cans" around here for anything and everything), get fresh water a few times a day, have good lay boxes (2 in the PL coop, 4 in the BR coop, all lined with pine shavings and straw). Their coops are WAY bigger than "needed," and they all have extra large runs that they are allowed to free range in all day.
So, any suggestions? I'm about to go grab a few pounds of crushed red pepper or something!! I love them all to death, but if they don't start laying soon, I'm not sure what to do. I am spending LOTS of time and money for them to be pets...