When will they start laying again?

[SlipsWife]

We have 8 chickens, 2 red girls (sexlinks), 2 partridge, 2 turkens, 1 bantam EE and 1 bantam red frizzled cochin. The red girls are from our local TSC (who I believe order from Privett). The other 4 big girls are from Cackle (part of hatchery surprise) and the 2 little ones are from a personal Privett order. (All from Spring 2013)

Our red girls have never stopped laying, we usually get an egg a day from them. We aren't sure who lays what on the other 4 big girls but we are getting 2 a day from them, so 4 a day total. On occasion a red girl might take a day off but for the most part they are laying machines. (they are about 6 wks older than the others so we knew what their eggs were before the others started laying).

The red frizzled cochin has never laid and egg...not one. She was injured by dogs we use to have and has a 'bad wing' (it really seems to have healed) so at first we thought she wasn't laying due to the injury and now we are wondering if she just won't lay.

Then, our EE...She was laying 5 eggs a week for a few months and then mid-Oct stopped, cold turkey. Did she stop due to weather? (we are in West Texas and it's not exactly cold here, even during our coldest snaps the red girls kept going).

I knew they would slow down in the winter but I didn't think the EE would stop. If she did stop due to seasons, when should she start again? I want to order standard EE this year but my husband said if they're going to be free loaders during the fall/winter months I need to go with something else. I LOVE the dependability of the red girls but would like a little variety in the mix.

 

[SlipsWife]

Anyone?

I was thinking it might be a daylight issue but since there seems to be enough light for 4 of them a day I don't think that's the issue. I don't think it's a dietary issue since some of the girls are laying.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I would look around in nooks and crannies to see if they are laying somewhere else first. They can get in some small spaces so don't rule anything out! If you still can't find anything I would give it until Spring until you start to worry too much. We have had a very cold winter here and a few of my girls have stopped stopped laying. Some breeds are more susceptible to "breaks" than others I would think that your EE is probably hiding her eggs somewhere, good luck!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Your EE may be going through a minor molt. Enough to make her stop laying, but she'll get back to laying when her body is ready. I had several spring pullets molt this year.

 

[SlipsWife]

Thanks for your replies! There's no hidden eggs...we've had them in their coop/run for awhile and there aren't to many hiding spots. The did have dry pox (from pictures I'm pretty sure that's what they had, no complications, cleared up pretty quick, 3 weeks maybe back in Sept/Oct.) The red girls kept laying, never slowed down, the other 4 big girls slowed a little but kept laying and got back to normal.

How long does molting last? I know one of the partridges molted right around the time they got dry pox, she looked HORRIBLE...

I hope the little bantam EE starts laying again soon. I miss the pretty little green eggs in the mix!

 

[Happy Chooks]

It depends on the hen, how hard the molt is, etc. Generally it can be anywhere from 2 - 5 months.

 

[SlipsWife]

This might be a silly question but could some breeds require more light to lay? I know the red girls are for production which is probably why they are laying machines. Seriously, love the red girls. I'm 99% sure they are from the same hatchery as the 2 bantams we ordered so I can't really blame the hatchery stock.

I'm going to work under the assumption it's molt but she'd better hurry up and get back to laying already or my husband isn't going to be to thrilled when I order standard size EE. He's not as impressed with the novelty of pretty eggs as I am.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

This might be a silly question but could some breeds require more light to lay? I know the red girls are for production which is probably why they are laying machines. Seriously, love the red girls. I'm 99% sure they are from the same hatchery as the 2 bantams we ordered so I can't really blame the hatchery stock.

I'm going to work under the assumption it's molt but she'd better hurry up and get back to laying already or my husband isn't going to be to thrilled when I order standard size EE. He's not as impressed with the novelty of pretty eggs as I am.

My standard EE is such a good layer (although she's a bit psycho) I ordered 5 more! EE's tend to be better layers than their pure bred ancestors, ameraucana and araucana , although I can't speak for the bantams.

 

[SlipsWife]

My standard EE is such a good layer (although she's a bit psycho) I ordered 5 more! EE's tend to be better layers than their pure bred ancestors, ameraucana and araucana , although I can't speak for the bantams.

Did you order her from a hatchery? We are planning on ordering another Cackle Hatchery Surprise (it was so much fun last year!). If our local TSC orders from Privett again this year then we might pick up a few more red girls. I love the small eggs in the mix so I want a couple of extra bantams too but there has to be a stopping point.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Did you order her from a hatchery? We are planning on ordering another Cackle Hatchery Surprise (it was so much fun last year!). If our local TSC orders from Privett again this year then we might pick up a few more red girls. I love the small eggs in the mix so I want a couple of extra bantams too but there has to be a stopping point.

My first two batches were from Murray McMurray, this next order is from Meyer.

Stopping point......you are just discovery the wacky world of "chicken math" you say 5 you'll get 20, you say 10 you'll end up with 40

. Once you discover all of the wonderful magical breeds you HAVE to have one of each! LOL BYC can be as much as a Chickens Anonymous as anything else

. After wanting to start with ten, I now have 27 and am working my way up.....where will it end? Your guess is as good as any....... In my situation though I only had to add birds because our property already had a huge coop and I have a growing customer base for eggs so my girls are paying their own feed bill

!

I agree with your point on the red star production girls they are amazing I have several production RIRs and they are mean as could be, but my little red star keeps them in place and still lets my boys carry her around. I have 8 more golden stars due to arrive in Feb!!!

Does Cackle do an extra too? MM offers a "rare" breed for every order I got a phoenix (had to get rid of that little Houdini) and a lovely little Silver Spangled Hamburg roo! Eventually I hope to acquire some breeder quality stock but for now the hatchery birds are just fine!