Egg Laying

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Egg Laying
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Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:30 am Post subject: Egg Laying
My chooks are still only laying one egg a day. There are four of them, and I can't tell if it's just one laying, or they're taking turns. They're about 24 weeks now, if the place I got them from has their dates right. Is there anything I can do to encourage them?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:37 am Post subject:
You could wander around carrying some sage and onion and a roasting tin in a threatening manner.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:39 am Post subject:
What are you feeding them? A higher protein content will encourage egg-laying, so perhaps cut back on the treats and stick to layers' pellets for a while. Otherwise it is just a matter of patience - the larger birds do take longer to get going.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:39 am Post subject:

sean wrote:

You could wander around carrying some sage and onion and a roasting tin in a threatening manner.

That might make something else come out of their back ends, rather than the desired eggs....

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:41 am Post subject:

judith wrote:

What are you feeding them? A higher protein content will encourage egg-laying, so perhaps cut back on the treats and stick to layers' pellets for a while. Otherwise it is just a matter of patience - the larger birds do take longer to get going.

They're on layers pellets. The only treats they get is perhaps a cherry tomato that's gone past it's best, or a half an apple cut up - between four of them. Should I stop that too - they'll lynch me

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:43 am Post subject:
The quicker they start working the quicker they wear out . Just as long as they get around to it eventually. You know what they say about a watched pot

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:45 am Post subject:
No. I wouldn't stop that. Some people feed a lot of high carbohydrate stuff like corn / pasta or whatever and the birds will go for that at the expense of their pellets. A bit of veggie stuff shouldn't make any difference.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:45 am Post subject:

bodger wrote:

The quicker they start working the quicker they wear out .

Just as long as they get around to it eventually.

You know what they say about a watched pot

Your're quite right Bodger, I'll try and stop getting excited about it eveytime I go and look

The one egg that does get laid is taken out every day - is it worth leaving it, pour encourager les autres??

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:48 am Post subject:

Penny wrote:

The one egg that does get laid is taken out every day - is it worth leaving it, pour encourager les autres??

When you work out what that egg has cost you so far

I wouldn't leave it in there to get trodden on!!!

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:50 am Post subject:

judith wrote:

Penny wrote:

The one egg that does get laid is taken out every day - is it worth leaving it, pour encourager les autres??

When you work out what that egg has cost you so far

I wouldn't leave it in there to get trodden on!!!

They are damn expensive eggs at the moment - but worth every penny - I love my girls - even if they don't lay anything.

Chick-pea

Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 148
Location: Cheshire, England

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 10:54 am Post subject:
Are they still young? They'll get around to it eventually. I don't think there's anything you can do to speed the process. As long as they're healthy - someone was telling me just yesterday that his hens all stopped laying because they had worms. When he de-wormed them they started laying again.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 11:44 am Post subject:
Penny Put a couple of golf balls in the nest and take the eggs out Pronto ! They're all yours.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 11:50 am Post subject:
POL can be anything from 16 weeks to 20 & some pure breeds take a lot longer to lay. Also with the reducing day length hens tend to slow down naturaly. If you want to rush them put a flourescent light in their house on a timer & suplement the natural daylight so they get 16 hrs. The small amount of lecy you burn will be paid for by the extra eggs they lay over the winter.

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 11:54 am Post subject:
my girls took a while to get going and everyday I'd go out and look and be disapointed. Then when I was starting to think they never would, they did I always feed layers pellets in the morning and then any treats in the afternoon. Mind love the potato peelings the eggs are well worth the wait too

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 06 2:32 pm Post subject:
Got home to find a HUGE egg - still just one though

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