Winter egg laying

[FortCluck]

My ducks haven't laid yet! I'm waiting for that day though. I want to hatch ducklings.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Sorry, but Thanks... I feel better now





So how do their eggs look color wise? Wonders what the cross is....I figured just some weird marketing ploy, the latest 'designer breed'.

Oh it is FOR SURE. In my Tractor Supply stupor that I always get when I hear chicks calling from the back of the store I went in and bought my first hatchery birds since that first year. I just saw Marans. And the sticker was under $6 per chick. LOL. They are like those Craig's list lemon blue something or others two ladies got in a fist fight about on our state thread. LOL. And all the heritage breeders on the thread were snickering in the corner. I think they will be like rocket fuel and burn up fast on me ...those ovaries.

But had to try. A sucker born every minute.

Colorwise. I'm happy. They are not the dark dark ones that I see on the $100 breeder dozen hatching eggs. But They are a dark copper and one does have a darker bloom making her darker than her sister's . The other one is coppery with very dark speckles. So that's fun. in the carton with the green Ameraucana eggs. They are lovely. Darker than my Welsummer. And darker than the Barnie I got. That they are. These bigger Marans girls are making big eggs too. There was no smallish pullet eggs. Poor girls. They went right into double yolk-ville on the 6th egg. Crazy nuts.

 

[FortCluck]

I have a muscovy and 2 Pekins I'm waiting for eggs from. I do have a Pekin Drake.

I don't thing my red sex links have missed a day since I got them in the spring. I wish they'd take a break, but they're made to lay eggs and that's it.

My Cochins just started laying last month, I actually hatched some and I'm obsessed with the chicks.

We are giving away eggs all the time and now everyone wants more! I am adding 8 more so in the spring we will get about 16 eggs a day.

 

[FortCluck]

Yes an army! Everyone I know would be getting chicks for Christmas!!

wonder how many would be excited about that. I would love it, but most people I know don't have chickens or ducks.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

@Mixed flock enthusiast .... Are you using supplemental lighting?

Oops, meant to put that in my post - no supplemental lighting. We currently have just under 10 hr of natural light per day. And it looks like a third duck decided to resume laying today! That would make 3/4 of layer ducks laying if she continues.

 

[aart]

Eggs are a seasonal food.
Unless you have pullets hatched early enough to start laying before fall, you aren't going to get eggs in winter unless you use supplemental lighting(and the management and results of that can be far and wide in effectiveness).

 

[FortCluck]

Maybe. No guarantees.
You need to hatch them as early as possible(Feb-Mar-Apr)...which can be a challenge because laying and fertility might not be timed well for that. BTDT.
...and you'll also have to plan with that to do with the ~50% males that will hatch out.
....and remember, Chicken Math includes subtraction. I have to slaughter older hens to make sure the flock is not crowded in winter with my limited housing and harsh weather.

We are using our chicks as meat chicks unless I want to add a few pullets to the group like the 4 I just added.

We are selling some too and if we don't have enough for butchering day then I'll just hatch some more. Hopefully I can get my hands on some fertile eggs that are local. That'll allow me to add new breeds I don't already have.

 

[tripletfeb]

I supplement my lighting in the winter but I am still down to 2 eggs a week! Out of five hens, 2 eggs a week! It's actually very frustrating because I got chickens for the eggs, these ladies need to pay the rent! I guess as long as they aren't sick or egg bound, I should be happy but I am also wondering if I have two legged pedators stealing them. I bought a camera to set up for the coop so I guess we will see!

 

[FortCluck]

7 days a week?
That's pretty amazing!
Did she molt this fall?

My red sex links haven't molted I don't think. I'd probably know if they did. Ginger has laid every day since January. Not even lying...

I want her to stop laying because I know she will be the first to pass away.

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

7 days a week?
That's pretty amazing!
Did she molt this fall?

Yes, she did moult. It was a light moult, not a hard gone naked moult.
She is also top hen, and the most inquisitive and friendly one. The others follow her lead.