Still no eggs...

[cluckinalong]

I'm an old hand at chickens but I'm completely stumped! I had one old hateful hen who has seen her faithful egg laying come to a halt.
Being widowed, I decided I DO want a hen or two. So, I got two 4H pullets the first part of Sept. I got an egg a day for 3 days and then 1 a day sporadically.
I have gotten 3 'Fart Eggs' this week and a normal one today. They are enclosed but have a good size outdoor run (2 chain link dog pens end to end, covered with mesh to prevent air borne threats away.). They have an entire barn stall as their house. There are 3 roomy nests inside and 1 out under a covered 'loafing' area.
What in the heck could be wrong?
Feed is too expensive and water too hard to carry to these loafers.

 

[ruralgirl]

So my Golden laced Wyandotes are only 4 months old and I have to wait for 18 months for eggs? I may eat them before waiting that long for eggs.

We've had Golden and Silver Laced Wyandottes for years and they've always started laying at about 5 months of age, which is just a couple weeks or so behind our Rhode Island Reds and other more specialized layer breeds. Our chicks are always Spring-hatched, usually shipped to us the first week in April, so they're maturing during the summer months which may make a difference compared to Autumn-hatched chicks. But in any event, don't worry, your girls will start laying soon!

That is, as long as you're making sure they've got 14-15 hours of light via timed light bulbs. It doesn't take a lot of wattage - just a couple or a few 60 watters, depending on how large your coop is (we have 5 in-line, evenly spaced, overhead bulbs for our 24'x16' chicken barn). And it's best not to time your lights to go on and off in the evening because your hens will be merrily going about life on the floor when suddenly they're left in the darkness. We all know how blind, or at least unwilling to move, chickens are in the dark, so your girls will likely spend the night on the floor instead of their roosts. It's far better to time your lights to go on early in the morning and then off shortly after natural daylight has taken over. We time our lights to come on at 5am and off at 8am.

Good luck with your GLWs! I think they're one of the most gorgeous hens there is!

 

[d.rubin]

Our girls need to have extra light in the winter months too. We put a 60 watt bulb on a timer to add an extra few hours pre-dawn and also after dusk. All in all to equal about 12 hours of "daylight". That seems to encourage more regular egg-laying. The eggs are worth the wait!

 

[Banriona]

wyandottes have a 18 month mature time. they start to lay much later than allot of breeds.

According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Wyandottes reach maturity between 16-20 WEEKS (4-5 months). May take longer for them to reach full growth potential, but reaching point of lay age and full maturity may not be the same thing. Kinda like how humans start menstruating before they reach full physical maturity. Occasionally if they reach pol while it is winter time and/or the days are shorter they will wait until the days start getting longer before they start laying. From everything I've read, if you are going to add supplemental light it's best to either have it come on a few hours before dawn so that when it turns off it doesn't put them in immediate darkness. Chickens are well.... chicken... and the slightest thing freaks them out. If you are going to have the light on in the evening it seems like it would be best to step the lighting down in stages (either from the solar power naturally dimming from lack of power, dimmer switch or a timed step-down system like aquariums have).

 

[chiknlil82]

"I bought my first 4 chickens last Friday, and was told that they are all laying eggs already. But I haven't even seen one yet. Also, they are terrified to go outside. I have a huge yard and want them to be free range, but they refuse to leave the barn. AND one of the chickens is a bully. I have seen her not let others eat as well as peck at them to kick them out of a spot. Here are my chicken problems... Any advice? I spent a good amount of money on these chickens already, and now I'm feeling pretty discouraged."

Every time my husband and I would bring new chickens home, we would keep them in their house for a few days so that they got used to it and know where they could go to when they wanted to, then we would open their door and let them come and go as they please.
As far as one of them being bullies, thats known as the pecking order. I don't like it when my girls do that to each other and they actually still do that from time to time and they were baby chicks and grew up together. It's just something they do.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'm an old hand at chickens but I'm completely stumped! I had one old hateful hen who has seen her faithful egg laying come to a halt.
Being widowed, I decided I DO want a hen or two. So, I got two 4H pullets the first part of Sept. I got an egg a day for 3 days and then 1 a day sporadically.
I have gotten 3 'Fart Eggs' this week and a normal one today. They are enclosed but have a good size outdoor run (2 chain link dog pens end to end, covered with mesh to prevent air borne threats away.). They have an entire barn stall as their house. There are 3 roomy nests inside and 1 out under a covered 'loafing' area.
What in the heck could be wrong?
Feed is too expensive and water too hard to carry to these loafers.

Just to make sure I understand--you have two total chickens? You say you got 4-H pullets--you're sure they're pullets, not second year hens?

It is the time of year for moulting, especially if they were a bit older than you initially believed.

Otherwise, I don't know. Mine have really slowed down their laying right now, despite having supplementary lighting.

 

[orange tomato]

Kelsie2290 - great advice.


The chickens have to have "their own place" and habitual. If you do not have them in a stall in your barn that they can originally feel safe and comfortable, they are probably just trying to find a place of security.
They will certainly hide their eggs. Chickens have personalities just like dogs and cats. They are not potty trainable though, so I am afraid you have to get used to cleaning up.
My daughter used to sit for hours with her Cochin rooster on her lap (with an old towel of course) and the rooster loved her as she did him. Regarding eggs, if the hens feel threatened or afraid, they may not be laying. Our hens were great layers, then a raccoon broke in and killed 3 including my heroic rooster. My hens did not lay eggs for 4 days, but once they realized they were safe again, began laying again.

 

[BrownEggsnHam]

... All animals must have a dark period each day for their bodies to function properly.

I understand, WalkingOnSunshine, that this statement was made in the context of the photosensitive nature of hens regarding their egg laying and duration of hours of light for egg production .... Though It's not my intent to repudiate the statement as I'm no expert in this field.... my observations in the natural world seem contrary to that statement. Living here in Sweden, it is not so difficult to travel northward to the Arctic circle and witness, where summer daylight hours are literally 24/7. If this statement is true, I am confused yet curious as to why the millions of birds of numerous species migrate north to this area of no darkness to breed, lay eggs, and raise their fledgling before returning South during the Autumn. I would have to assume that their bodies are functioning properly as that is their nature. The same would hold true for the myriad of fowl flocking seasonally to Alaska's North Slope and other northern regions of Canada, Siberia and Asia.

Having moved here over a decade earlier, from the 45° Latitude, I personally found it at first difficult to adjust my sleeping patterns during the summer period of little darkness. And though my sleeping change at first seemed slow to these new hours, it happened none-the-less and now it seems natural to me. So what I would conjecture from my personal observations and experience is contrary to the statement, however I do believe that a seasonal slowing down for R&R is good (and natural) for bodies... a rejuvenation for proper functioning. On a day to day basis though, darkness would not be a prerequisite for optimum health and vitality.

In the case of hens, it is my understanding and please correct me if I'm wrong, that it is in their nature to lay eggs (as affected by hormones) when the daylight hours reach a significant amount, as with most birds. This might possibly be a remaining ancestral link from the Red (or Grey) Junglefowl as the 14 hours of daylight would certainly signify the advent of Spring in their native habitats, a time indicative of greater amounts of insects and other food required for rearing a clutch.

Just trying to clarify...

 

[BinaryChicken]

Are there rats around the coop? I've had a lot of problems with rats stealing eggs.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I understand, WalkingOnSunshine, that this statement was made in the context of the photosensitive nature of hens regarding their egg laying and duration of hours of light for egg production .... Though It's not my intent to repudiate the statement as I'm no expert in this field.... my observations in the natural world seem contrary to that statement. Living here in Sweden, it is not so difficult to travel northward to the Arctic circle and witness, where summer daylight hours are literally 24/7. If this statement is true, I am confused yet curious as to why the millions of birds of numerous species migrate north to this area of no darkness to breed, lay eggs, and raise their fledgling before returning South during the Autumn. I would have to assume that their bodies are functioning properly as that is their nature. The same would hold true for the myriad of fowl flocking seasonally to Alaska's North Slope and other northern regions of Canada, Siberia and Asia.

Having moved here over a decade earlier, from the 45° Latitude, I personally found it at first difficult to adjust my sleeping patterns during the summer period of little darkness. And though my sleeping change at first seemed slow to these new hours, it happened none-the-less and now it seems natural to me. So what I would conjecture from my personal observations and experience is contrary to the statement, however I do believe that a seasonal slowing down for R&R is good (and natural) for bodies... a rejuvenation for proper functioning. On a day to day basis though, darkness would not be a prerequisite for optimum health and vitality.

In the case of hens, it is my understanding and please correct me if I'm wrong, that it is in their nature to lay eggs (as affected by hormones) when the daylight hours reach a significant amount, as with most birds. This might possibly be a remaining ancestral link from the Red (or Grey) Junglefowl as the 14 hours of daylight would certainly signify the advent of Spring in their native habitats, a time indicative of greater amounts of insects and other food required for rearing a clutch.

Just trying to clarify...

Farm animals are some of the most researched animals on Earth. They know far more about them than they do humans. For example, they know down to the specific amino acids exactly what proteins and in what amounts cows need to produce milk. They've also studied the photoperiods for production animals down to the specific wavelengths of light needed during the growing and production phases. On dairy farms, even though the people are working 24/7, the cows get a specific dark period and the workers do their work while wearing red headlamps so as not to impinge on that dark period.

Poultry have been studied just as thoroughly as other farm animals. Here is a University fact sheet--if you scroll to the end you will find a long bibliography of published work on the subject, and that just scratches the surface. http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~mdarre/poultrypages/light_inset.html


Quote: You are correct, it is a link from their ancestral past. In either the above fact sheet or the one I posted previously, this fact is mentioned. I will correct you on one thing--it isn't actually the amount of light that the chickens' bodies are reacting to. It's actually the length of the dark period. For us humans, it's easier to talk about number of light-hours, but what you're really doing is limiting dark, not supplementing light. That's why you don't need very much light to affect the hens, just enough to read by instead of super-bright.