when should they start laying?

[singlin]

My chickens are about 6mo old we got them in late Feb/ early Mar. No clue what kind they are...the feed store I bought them at said they were barred rock pullets and americuana's. Our Roo died about a week ago he DID look similar to an Americuana...2 looked like the pictures on this site of that were labelled as production? what is that? The last I can't find a picture of. Do they all lay at the same age? I bought them oyster shells and laying scratch today to mix in with their regular scratch...They wont go up on the ledge my husband built in their chicken coop...do I need ot get individual boxes for them? We have 2 out of the orginial four left (or dog strangled one!) He knows better now ;-)
We just bought 3 new that are black and white speckled. From a different feed store that says they are Barred Rock...how do I know it they are? So anyways...what to do about the soon to be layers?
The one is starting to "nest" on the ground she digs holes and rolls in them and sits for hours with nothing under her.
Advice?
Thanks,
Staci in AZ

 

[ColoradoMike]

Post pics!

I think average start age is around 20 weeks...

Some start earlier (our first egg came yesterday from a ~17 week old Red Sex Link) and some much later.

Good luck!

edit: regarding their food, I hope you're feeding them 'mash' or some sort of balanced ration, as opposed to 'scratch'. Scratch is a treat food that should be offered in limited quantities whereas 'mash' or 'pellets' are formulated to be a well balanced diet... If they're only getting 'scratch' then I would think you may need to get them a better balanced food...

 

[beckychick]

I still have my 20 week old chicks on starter feed, is this correct? The feed store clerk told me to move them up when she starts laying eggs, is this correct?

 

[ColoradoMike]

Quote:
Opinions vary. Lots of BYC posters offer that very advice. My feed store owner advised I start laymash at around 16 weeks, which I did. My chickens seem to be doing fine and those who offer laymash after the first egg are doing fine too, I would imagine.

 

[singlin]

One bag read...
Chicken scratch looks like a bunch of corn if you ask me
next bag says...
oyster shells
last bag says...
lay pellets
Is that correct? I mixed them all up and the kids toss it to them. They are free range and eat bugs all day long..they sleep in a coop. We live an an acre+ so they room free all day.
What is mash?

thanks,
Staci in AZ

 

[singlin]

how do I post picts?

 

[ColoradoMike]

Mash and pellets are, for the most part similar in that they are a formulated, well balanced diet. The difference is that pellets are, well, pellets. Mash is just all ground up.

There are different kinds of mash - starter, grower and layer.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think pellets come in grower and layer, but I've never gotten pellets...

I'm still a newb at this, but these are things I've picked up reading BYC... Some grizzled veteran may come along and correct me

, but I think that's the gist of it....

You may want to get another bag of lay pellets/mash to keep in their feeder (they should have free choice well balanced food 24/7 - at least, during the day) and then use your mixture as a ground scratch treat, as you're currently doing...

Try BYC's search function - a lot of these topics have been discussed a lot and there's some good older info to be found here...

Good luck!

 

[ColoradoMike]

the FAQ is your friend

 

[singlin]

Did it work? This was taken about 6wks ago? These are the two we have now...not including the babies we just bought today

 

[beckychick]

yes, it worked, nice looking chicks.