Interesting thread, and when I have more time, I will read through all of the posts.
But here are my answers:
- Which breeds or types of chickens are good egg layers?
Breeds that are good layers is a bit of a misnomer. No matter what breed you have, only hens who are in optimum health and nutrition in a stress free environment will be optimal layers. The nutrition should be targeted to the bird's needs (heavier breed vs. high production breed), the amount of good forage they have on their own, and your overall climate. It takes some tweaking to find the "sweet spot" of nutrition for each flock chemistry, so don't be afraid to adjust for your flock's individual needs. It's easy to tell results by the appearance of your flock and your eggs.
Having said that, as I've personally worked through a lot of different breeds to get a "feel" for the ones I like, I can say that it is hard to beat the commercial hybrid Red Sex Links for outright output...for the first two years...then they decline and decrease rapidly.
I have been very impressed with my California Greys (sometimes called Production Blacks). While not of the original Dresden strain, these feed store pullets have consistently laid for 3 years straight. Sadly, I lost one to a coon this winter. (Why is it always the best layer?)
After that, my backyard mixes do impressively well for productivity and longevity.
- How do you get the best production from your layers?
Happy hens are productive hens. Stressed, crowded, parasite ridden hens are not. I work to make sure my girls (and gentleman) are happy in warm, clean coops, dry runs (as much as I can manage in my wet Oregon), and days filled with pleasurable free range foraging protected from predators.
Then it is tinkering with the nutrition. For me, in my damp, humid cold, I need to keep the protein to 18% minimum. I have limited forage (1/3 acre) that has been gleaned the years, so I know that the majority of their nutrition has to come from the feed. I personally prefer Nutrena's products because in my area they seem to be superior to the other brands.
But nutrition is only as good as the hen's digestive system. After the daily feed question, the most important thing is to keep their digestive tract optimal. That for me means periodic worming. This has become hard now that the only FDA approved wormer has been removed from the market (Hygromycin B), since I like to sell eggs to offset feed costs (and thus prefer to stay within FDA rules). Until something comes onto the market, I will go back to the slower working, not quite eradicating herbals. I have shopped around, experimented, and landed on using Molly's Herbal, cayenne pepper, and pumpkin seeds made into a mash with some warm yogurt which expels worms (but doesn't kill them leaving them to be picked up by the next bird if it happens along quickly enough). That puts more pressure on me to rotate my fields, which I can't do on 1/3 acre, so that means I call up my gardening friends a bit more often to come get compost (which they love to do).
I always keep fresh water with ACV (raw with mother). The ACV's flora and mother actually feeds the good bacteria in the gut promoting good digestion. It also helps keep the gut acidified to help protect against parasites and disease. Additional probiotics and vitamins can be helpful during long wet winters, so I will add the Rooster Booster multi vitamin (which sadly used to have the wormer as well).. I try not to overuse those as most feed comes with good supplementation in the feed itself, but I find additional probiotics good
- At what ages did you get the first eggs from your pullets?
Depends on the pullet, breed or hybrid, and season.
For the standard feed store hybrids purchased in spring (usually March here), I can expect first eggs at 18 to 20 weeks, definitely by 22 weeks. If purchased in the fall (September...the only other time for feed store delivery), I won't get eggs until the spring, usually by February.
For my broody hatch chicks, especially early hatches (January), I will see them mature more quickly from the "hardening" process natural brooding provides, and as they age in the lengthening day light, I have had hens (especially "mutt" mixes of layer breeds) begin to lay by week 14 to 16. (No kidding. I had to check the calendar twice.)
My Marans take longer to mature and I won't see eggs from them until 6 months of age. Also broody hatches that occur in mid or late summer are maturing in the shortening days. For those birds, I will not see eggs until the days lengthen in late January or February.
This all has to do with the effect of daylight on the developing pituitary gland to release hormones for egg laying. I do not artificially light my coops, so I depend upon natural body cycles. I therefore make a point to keep strong broodies that will volunteer in January or February to gain the benefit of those quick maturing pullets. I've never had any problems with prolapse or egg binding in any of those pullets, so I am assuming this is a natural rhythm and take advantage of it.
- What do you do with your extra eggs? (Yes… I know it's winter for most of us at the moment and that's only a dream but...
)
Being in a family with gluten sensitive individuals, we use a lot of eggs. During summer and high season, I sell eggs to offset feed costs. In my area, I can get $4 a dozen for my eggs. I've actually backed off of egg sales as it can drive you to maintain more hens than you really want to take care of. Also, with the new FDA rules, I'm chafing a bit at wanting to be able to worm my hens seasonally with the meds I want to use, which sadly are "off label" for layers of eggs for the public. Not sure what I'll do. We eat enough, so I may curtail sales.
- Eggs of different colours - Which breeds lay which colour eggs?
This is the heart of my chicken keeping. I long for colorful egg baskets (and yes, uhem, I will be posting photos below). I have been working my way through the breeds to find the most pleasing color palette. Also, I am now beginning to experiment with my own genetics, breeding for egg color variety. I'm using a Barnevelder rooster (dark shell genetics) over a harem of girls of different breeds who produce different egg colors to create varying colors (and plummage). The first generation of daughters have just started laying, so more info will be coming as the eggs start to "roll of the presses."
So what am I using for my palette?
For rich cordovan color, it is hard to beat a good quality Welsummer (which of course I lost to disease and predator last year). Amazingly, I have found that most feed store Gold Sexlinks (at least the ones I've had) also lay a terra cotta colored egg, which I love. I chose a good GSL hen to breed forward that color enriched by my Barnevelder rooster as that breed is also known for a rich gold/terra cotta. That pairing produced a lovely red hen (and roosters, sigh) who lays an egg of rich brown red.
For white (as that makes the carton colors really pop)....I'm very happy with the feed store California Greys. Nice birds and prolific layers...much calmer than the productive but flighty Leghorns.
As to the green tones, I have a most excellent breeder egg hatched Isbar/Marans for mid-tone olive eggs. She will be bred forward for F2 olive with my dark Barney this summer (I've got her eggs holding for my next brooder to sit).
Of the blue gened, I have attempted Isbars with disasterous results....I like their rich blue/green colors but sadly I can't get a bird to grow from chickhood and stay alive (overly inbred lines in this area).
So, I've gone to Cream Legbars. They have produced a rich sea green that is deeply infused in the egg shell. Sadly my breeding results this summer resulted in a bunch of roos and one pullet, which even more sadly I lost to heat stroke during a really hot spell. BEAUTIFUL bird with black base and glorious gold penciling. I've sold some of their fertile eggs, and the report is that they are coming as a nice olive.
My experiences with EE's have left me luke warm. Meh. Pasty pale green. I know it can vary a lot with the quality of line. Mine were feed store. Probably won't try again.
I have yet to try true Ameraucanas as I need to find a breeder that has true and not EE's. That is a project I hope to complete this year.
Of the commercial breeds, RIR and Barred Rock give a solid brown, Orps a pretty cream (when the silly over fed things would lay for me). My BSL gave a nice taupe. As mentioned, my favorite is the Gold Star with the rich clay pot color.
Buckeyes and Rhodebars laid a really nice cream, but the Buckeyes were not prolific enough egg laying (being more dual purpose) so sold them. I took my best Rhodebar and paired her with my Barney which seems to be holding true to cream (pretty sure it is this daughter laying), so I've got a lovely cottage cream from that daughter (and a bunch of roos in freezer camp).
My Cal Grey/Barny created nice backyard sexlinks which lay a taupe....with some pink undertone.
So egg color, yeah. I've got some of that.
Top to bottom: Isbar/Marans olive egg, Cal Grey white, Splash Marans, RSL/Barney red, Cream Legbar ocean blue.
F1 Barnevelder mixes: "noon" Rhodebar/Barney; 1oclock I think Cal Grey/Barney, 4 oclock GSL/Barney, 7oclock Cal Grey/Barney, 9 oclock Marans/Barney (pretty sure).....I'm still sorting out who is laying what as 3 of them began to lay at the same time...but the genetics tell me that should be happening as well as the buyers' results who gave me feed back from my fertile eggs they hatched.
Now the fun cartons (sorry, I know, I get carried away with the egg color)
My breeding harem
Easter basket the "natural" way
Welsummer large egg in middle, BCM (at early season) to the right
Sepia boxes I sell to customers
But here are my answers:
- Which breeds or types of chickens are good egg layers?
Breeds that are good layers is a bit of a misnomer. No matter what breed you have, only hens who are in optimum health and nutrition in a stress free environment will be optimal layers. The nutrition should be targeted to the bird's needs (heavier breed vs. high production breed), the amount of good forage they have on their own, and your overall climate. It takes some tweaking to find the "sweet spot" of nutrition for each flock chemistry, so don't be afraid to adjust for your flock's individual needs. It's easy to tell results by the appearance of your flock and your eggs.
Having said that, as I've personally worked through a lot of different breeds to get a "feel" for the ones I like, I can say that it is hard to beat the commercial hybrid Red Sex Links for outright output...for the first two years...then they decline and decrease rapidly.
I have been very impressed with my California Greys (sometimes called Production Blacks). While not of the original Dresden strain, these feed store pullets have consistently laid for 3 years straight. Sadly, I lost one to a coon this winter. (Why is it always the best layer?)
After that, my backyard mixes do impressively well for productivity and longevity.
- How do you get the best production from your layers?
Happy hens are productive hens. Stressed, crowded, parasite ridden hens are not. I work to make sure my girls (and gentleman) are happy in warm, clean coops, dry runs (as much as I can manage in my wet Oregon), and days filled with pleasurable free range foraging protected from predators.
Then it is tinkering with the nutrition. For me, in my damp, humid cold, I need to keep the protein to 18% minimum. I have limited forage (1/3 acre) that has been gleaned the years, so I know that the majority of their nutrition has to come from the feed. I personally prefer Nutrena's products because in my area they seem to be superior to the other brands.
But nutrition is only as good as the hen's digestive system. After the daily feed question, the most important thing is to keep their digestive tract optimal. That for me means periodic worming. This has become hard now that the only FDA approved wormer has been removed from the market (Hygromycin B), since I like to sell eggs to offset feed costs (and thus prefer to stay within FDA rules). Until something comes onto the market, I will go back to the slower working, not quite eradicating herbals. I have shopped around, experimented, and landed on using Molly's Herbal, cayenne pepper, and pumpkin seeds made into a mash with some warm yogurt which expels worms (but doesn't kill them leaving them to be picked up by the next bird if it happens along quickly enough). That puts more pressure on me to rotate my fields, which I can't do on 1/3 acre, so that means I call up my gardening friends a bit more often to come get compost (which they love to do).
I always keep fresh water with ACV (raw with mother). The ACV's flora and mother actually feeds the good bacteria in the gut promoting good digestion. It also helps keep the gut acidified to help protect against parasites and disease. Additional probiotics and vitamins can be helpful during long wet winters, so I will add the Rooster Booster multi vitamin (which sadly used to have the wormer as well).. I try not to overuse those as most feed comes with good supplementation in the feed itself, but I find additional probiotics good
- At what ages did you get the first eggs from your pullets?
Depends on the pullet, breed or hybrid, and season.
For the standard feed store hybrids purchased in spring (usually March here), I can expect first eggs at 18 to 20 weeks, definitely by 22 weeks. If purchased in the fall (September...the only other time for feed store delivery), I won't get eggs until the spring, usually by February.
For my broody hatch chicks, especially early hatches (January), I will see them mature more quickly from the "hardening" process natural brooding provides, and as they age in the lengthening day light, I have had hens (especially "mutt" mixes of layer breeds) begin to lay by week 14 to 16. (No kidding. I had to check the calendar twice.)
My Marans take longer to mature and I won't see eggs from them until 6 months of age. Also broody hatches that occur in mid or late summer are maturing in the shortening days. For those birds, I will not see eggs until the days lengthen in late January or February.
This all has to do with the effect of daylight on the developing pituitary gland to release hormones for egg laying. I do not artificially light my coops, so I depend upon natural body cycles. I therefore make a point to keep strong broodies that will volunteer in January or February to gain the benefit of those quick maturing pullets. I've never had any problems with prolapse or egg binding in any of those pullets, so I am assuming this is a natural rhythm and take advantage of it.
- What do you do with your extra eggs? (Yes… I know it's winter for most of us at the moment and that's only a dream but...
Being in a family with gluten sensitive individuals, we use a lot of eggs. During summer and high season, I sell eggs to offset feed costs. In my area, I can get $4 a dozen for my eggs. I've actually backed off of egg sales as it can drive you to maintain more hens than you really want to take care of. Also, with the new FDA rules, I'm chafing a bit at wanting to be able to worm my hens seasonally with the meds I want to use, which sadly are "off label" for layers of eggs for the public. Not sure what I'll do. We eat enough, so I may curtail sales.
- Eggs of different colours - Which breeds lay which colour eggs?
This is the heart of my chicken keeping. I long for colorful egg baskets (and yes, uhem, I will be posting photos below). I have been working my way through the breeds to find the most pleasing color palette. Also, I am now beginning to experiment with my own genetics, breeding for egg color variety. I'm using a Barnevelder rooster (dark shell genetics) over a harem of girls of different breeds who produce different egg colors to create varying colors (and plummage). The first generation of daughters have just started laying, so more info will be coming as the eggs start to "roll of the presses."
So what am I using for my palette?
For rich cordovan color, it is hard to beat a good quality Welsummer (which of course I lost to disease and predator last year). Amazingly, I have found that most feed store Gold Sexlinks (at least the ones I've had) also lay a terra cotta colored egg, which I love. I chose a good GSL hen to breed forward that color enriched by my Barnevelder rooster as that breed is also known for a rich gold/terra cotta. That pairing produced a lovely red hen (and roosters, sigh) who lays an egg of rich brown red.
For white (as that makes the carton colors really pop)....I'm very happy with the feed store California Greys. Nice birds and prolific layers...much calmer than the productive but flighty Leghorns.
As to the green tones, I have a most excellent breeder egg hatched Isbar/Marans for mid-tone olive eggs. She will be bred forward for F2 olive with my dark Barney this summer (I've got her eggs holding for my next brooder to sit).
Of the blue gened, I have attempted Isbars with disasterous results....I like their rich blue/green colors but sadly I can't get a bird to grow from chickhood and stay alive (overly inbred lines in this area).
So, I've gone to Cream Legbars. They have produced a rich sea green that is deeply infused in the egg shell. Sadly my breeding results this summer resulted in a bunch of roos and one pullet, which even more sadly I lost to heat stroke during a really hot spell. BEAUTIFUL bird with black base and glorious gold penciling. I've sold some of their fertile eggs, and the report is that they are coming as a nice olive.
My experiences with EE's have left me luke warm. Meh. Pasty pale green. I know it can vary a lot with the quality of line. Mine were feed store. Probably won't try again.
I have yet to try true Ameraucanas as I need to find a breeder that has true and not EE's. That is a project I hope to complete this year.
Of the commercial breeds, RIR and Barred Rock give a solid brown, Orps a pretty cream (when the silly over fed things would lay for me). My BSL gave a nice taupe. As mentioned, my favorite is the Gold Star with the rich clay pot color.
Buckeyes and Rhodebars laid a really nice cream, but the Buckeyes were not prolific enough egg laying (being more dual purpose) so sold them. I took my best Rhodebar and paired her with my Barney which seems to be holding true to cream (pretty sure it is this daughter laying), so I've got a lovely cottage cream from that daughter (and a bunch of roos in freezer camp).
My Cal Grey/Barny created nice backyard sexlinks which lay a taupe....with some pink undertone.
So egg color, yeah. I've got some of that.
Now the fun cartons (sorry, I know, I get carried away with the egg color)
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