Talk About Frustrating

[Booswalia]

I haven't seen an egg since the spring and I'm about to make a BIG pot of stew. I started out with 3 hens (2 delawares and a white rock) The 2 delawares gave me lots of eggs for quite a while until they went into a molt for about 5 months. The white rock has given me many headaches, but about half a dozen eggs in her life. She gets broody all the time. Last spring I decided to put some fertile eggs under her and let her raise them so I could have a few more eggs. Long story short I ended up raising them myself and all but one turned out to be roosters, (which I no longer have). One of the original Delawares, in the mean time, got sick and died. Now I'm down to one laying hen and she's molting again. Has been for for months. The pullet is 23 weeks old and has not laid yet. I kept one of the roosters and he just started calling this week so he's reaching maturity. And the young ones insist on sleeping in the nest box. I have to move them to the perch every single night.

All I do is feed and clean up poo. I'd sure love an egg. Someone please tell me I'll have an egg soon.

 

[cubalaya]

are you feeding a good layer feed? do your birds have worms? are they in an area that gets plenty of daytime sun? have you tried lights in the coop?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I think you've just experienced a string of unfortunate events.

you're pullet gives you an egg soon. The pullets I hatched at the beginning of April just started laying this past week.....and I've got 14 LF Cochin pullets I don't expect will lay anytime soon...so, chin up! If they still hold out on you, you may want to start checking things out. Do they have enough space? Are their feed requirements being met? Is there something bothering them (internal/external parasites, an animal lurking in or outside their coop)? Could they be hiding or eating them? You have to be a constant problem solver to figure out what goes on in their little chicken world, but once you figure them out its pretty smooth sailing. I know my chickens are used to a very specific routine, and if there is a shift in that routine it throws their entire universe out of wack. Good luck~~~~~~~sending egg vibes your way!!!!

 

[Booswalia]

Thanks for the egg vibes. This whole thing has been a comedy or errors since it began. I'm not one to give up easily though.