My chickens are laying impaired NO MORE! An egg!

[deltawave]

The chicks I bought in April (Buff Orpingtons) are GIGANTIC, bossy, and as of this weekend, their 21st week, still eggless.

Two of them are getting bright red wattles and combs, which is I think a sign of maturity, but the others are just starting to develop these. The books say most chickens start laying at about 18 weeks--are they talking about super-laying hybrids, maybe? Because mine are almost a month past that and still nada.

:sigh:

[poltroon]

Ours from this year are from March and have been laying about a month.

One possibility is that they might be laying and you just didn't find the eggs. Note that they will be smaller than full size at first - not microscopic, but smaller.

Patience!

[TXnGA]

Also, are you feeding them enough (or the right food) to get them to lay? My husband told me that he has stopped feeding our chickens "laying pellets" because we have too many eggs at this time, so by not feeding "laying pellets" they have stopped laying eggs. He says that when you don't feed them enough food or the right laying food, then chickens won't lay eggs. Another thing, do you have roosters? We had 2 roosters, and I emphasize HAD, they no longer walk this earth, that ate all the food and picked on the hens, so they were no longer welcome at our house.
just a thought

[foggybok]

Mine too!

May 1st babies so slightly younger, but not an egg in sight....


They just use my computer and eat everything in the fridge....

I am impatiently waiting......

[cindylouwho]

I find that my girls lay less with cooler or really hot weather. As really hot weather is not the case, the cooler weather might be slowing their lay process down too!

[Tamara in TN]

The chicks I bought in April (Buff Orpingtons) are GIGANTIC, bossy, and as of this weekend, their 21st week, still eggless.

Two of them are getting bright red wattles and combs, which is I think a sign of maturity, but the others are just starting to develop these. The books say most chickens start laying at about 18 weeks--are they talking about super-laying hybrids, maybe? Because mine are almost a month past that and still nada.

:sigh:



increase the light in the coop to 18 hours day...just like bringing mares into season in the early spring...it's based on hours of light as well as age

best

[Bluey]

Are you sure which sex they are?:winkgrin:

[RacetrackReject]

I thought I was the only one. I even told my hens that if I didn't start seeing eggs, I would have to start eating chickens =O. I also took photos to post to see if you guys thought they looked mature enough..lol.

I have 6 I picked up in April and the rest are too young.

[sidepasser]

Darned - got deleted..

I raised Buffs and they were slower to mature than regular chickens as they are a giant breed. Think Warmblood and Draft horses..mine never laid an egg before 28 weeks and they like greens of all kinds which seems to make them lay better. They laid all winter, an egg a day, as long as I had the lights on from dark till 10:00 pm at night (on a timer).

Here is a link to Buffs that is a good read with lots of pics and is pretty funny:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Buff_Orpingtons

and here is where I purchased my initial start of Buff's:

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/buff_orpingtons.html

[cloudyandcallie]

Are you feeding a "laying mash" to the hens? Switch to a feed specifically for hens.

Also when I was growing up with bantam chickens, they liked the fine cracked oyster shells in our driveway, a source of lime and also the "gravel" for their craw.............My bantams were free ranging so they lay eggs all year long.

[subk]

We have two March chicks. The Rhode Island Red has been laying for almost a month. The Silver-laced Wyandotte has yet to get in the program.

[goodhors]

I hear Buff Orpingtons are late bloomers. Some friends got the Buffs last year for egg production. They also did not get any eggs for a very LONG time after they thought they should. Some guessed it was because birds were bigger than previous breeds they owned, took longer to grow up. The birds did lay well, once they FINALLY got started. Even in the group, some birds were slower than the other Buffs, to get going.

I would try what Tamera said, see if the extra light is helpful. Could be short days are against you and the young birds.

[JSwan]

My Cuckoo Marans have started laying (COOL eggs!) but not the Buff Orpingtons. Mine are a little younger than yours but like the others I think the Buffs may be late bloomers - give them another month. Like others said - make sure they have a lot of light, nutrition... and check out the yard for hidden eggs. Just in case you have some shy ones.

The Buff pullets are big but Lordy are the roosters gigantic. Maran roosters too. Very large birds.



Foggybok - your chickens must have emailed my chickens - they are starting to gather at the back door and stare through the doggie door. I go into the mud room to find the dogs trying to go outside to pee - but they're afraid to go through the door. :lol:

[deltawave]

Thanks! Yes, they're definitely all hens, not a rooster in the bunch. Unless they're laying eggs in the hour of "turnout" they get every day (during which they mostly hang around the chicken pen anyway, because each of them has recently discovered the electric fence--talk about INDIGNANT CHICKENS!) :lol: I don't think they could be hiding eggs as their pen/coop/run is not that large.

They're getting laying pellets, calcium, plenty of greens (plus their daily grazing time), scratch, fruits and veggies, and whatever starchy leftovers we have from supper. I could think about a light--good idea!--our daylight is down to about 13 hours now. All I have to do is stick a bulb in the fixture that's in coop and put the light on a timer. I am going to time it in the morning, though, because the damn stupid birds are too hard to convice that it's bedtime if there is enough light for them to still be noodling around like juvenile delinquents. :mad: :lol:

[sk_pacer]

In a nutshell, giant and/or meat breeds or dual purpose start laying later than laying breeds - think more like 6 months or longer than the 4ish months for something like a Leghorn. Just feed them right, keep light at 14+ hours and they will eventually do something

[foggybok]

My Cuckoo Marans have started laying (COOL eggs!) but not the Buff Orpingtons. Mine are a little younger than yours but like the others I think the Buffs may be late bloomers - give them another month. Like others said - make sure they have a lot of light, nutrition... and check out the yard for hidden eggs. Just in case you have some shy ones.

The Buff pullets are big but Lordy are the roosters gigantic. Maran roosters too. Very large birds.



Foggybok - your chickens must have emailed my chickens - they are starting to gather at the back door and stare through the doggie door. I go into the mud room to find the dogs trying to go outside to pee - but they're afraid to go through the door. :lol:

Ha ha, you're in trouble the day they figure out how to use the doggie door! And they will! :)

[Calvincrowe]

Yup, the Buffs are slow learners, and big eaters. I keep a light on in the hen house to encourage year round laying.

Gotta say, I'm super impressed with my Australorps!! I'm getting an egg a day from all 6 of them!! And these are April 20th chicks...heck, they've been laying since the beginning of August! My Delawares?? Not a clue--nice birds, but seem to be observing/supervising the actions of the little black ladies. My older Buffs are still laying, GINORMOUS eggs--many double yolked, which thrill my customers. I can't seem to produce enough organic, free-range, brown eggs to satisfy the folks at my school--I have a waiting list! I wonder how many hens I could stuff in my wee house??:lol:

[2DogsFarm]

dw: careful what you wish for ;)

Once your girls get started you will be up to your eyeballs in eggs.

What was I thinking?
A dozen eggs used to last me almost a month!
My pullets started laying in August. One Black Star was first, the other was last to lay - in between were the Delawares and even the foofy Houdan <she lays every 2nd or 3rd day to remind me eggs are a gift, not an obligation.

So far I have gifted friends with 4 dozen eggs, baked a custard that used 8, a couple cakes that used 4 and will be making pasta this weekend with another dozen.
My personal egg consumption has gone up some, but not enough to keep up.
I don't want to think about my LDL levels.

foggybok: TG I don't have a dog door.
I have been followed into the garage and up the back porch steps.
I'm sure it is just a matter of time before they are sitting on the couch and battling me for the remote...

[tikidoc]

Just to echo what everyone else is saying, Orps mature late. Many of the so-called heritage breeds start laying late. I have owned 8-10 different breeds of hen (all heritage breeds) and I don't think any of them laid an egg as young as 18 weeks. I think I got my first egg out of our Buff Orpingtons at about 24 weeks, and they weren't really putting out a lot of eggs until maybe 28 weeks or so. Plus, yours are maturing at the beginning of the slow time of the year for eggs. Sounds like you are doing everything correctly, you just need to be patient.

I think the early egg laying stage of a hen's life is the most fun. Every egg is exciting, and you get some really funky ones. Teeny little eggs, lots of big double (or even triple) yolkers, the occasional shell-less (yuck) egg. Once they are in full production mode, they become much more consistent but not as much fun. Although I will admit, when one of my hens laid a shell-less egg IN. MY. LAP. that was definitely not fun. It was as if she knew it was messed up and wanted me to deal with it. Blech.

[deltawave]

2Dogs, eggs are good for you. As long as you don't cook them in butter or bacon fat, your LDL will be fine. :) Eggs don't make your cholesterol go up, it's how we cook them, and what goes along with them (bacon, sausage, biscuits 'n gravy, etc.) ;)

[JSwan]

DW -

My LDL has dropped since I started eating eggs from free-ranging chickens. Whether this was due to the reputed health benefits, or from the exercise I got running away from the evil rooster I have no idea.

[poltroon]

The nutritional profile of eggs is dependent on what the hens are fed.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx

Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

[foggybok]

2Dogs, eggs are good for you. As long as you don't cook them in butter or bacon fat, your LDL will be fine. :) Eggs don't make your cholesterol go up, it's how we cook them, and what goes along with them (bacon, sausage, biscuits 'n gravy, etc.) ;)

I had a physiology professor that was convinced that eggs did not make your cholesterol go up. He died of a heart attack......

But he actually had some valid criticisms of some of the dietary cholesterol studies....

RIP Rudy Clarenburg. He was one of my favorite professors. Always brought his friend Sniff to class as an example of living physiology. Sniff was his white rat that lived in the pocket of his labcoat or on the overhead projector at times.... There were many Sniffs in Dr C's long career.. As Rudy would say after going through a long biochemical pathway "Once more with feeling!"

[JSwan]

That's a great story!

My theory is:

Eat right, exercise, and die anyway.

So I live by this creed - Live every day as if it were your last. One day you're sure to be right.



Once more, with feeling! :D

[Sleepy]

Interesting. I had a physiology prof who said, and I quote, "If your body is going to make cholesterol, it will make it out of dirt". Dr. Smith was one of those scrawny, wiry types who, in my experience, are the ones who DO have high, as in off the charts, cholesterol readings.

That said, I LOFF eggs, especially fresh off the farm ones. I am thinking of joining the rest of you chicken ranchers, but am unsure what to do about resulting, inevitable fatalities. And no, I'm not killing 'em for frying/roasting after they stop laying. Nothing that has a name goes on the table. But sooner or later, the girls will die of old age, assuming a fox or coyote doesn't snatch them. So what are the rest of you doing?

[Auventera Two]

In a nutshell, giant and/or meat breeds or dual purpose start laying later than laying breeds - think more like 6 months or longer than the 4ish months for something like a Leghorn. Just feed them right, keep light at 14+ hours and they will eventually do something

Yep, that's what I was going to post! Larger/heavier breeds - wait a full 6 months to see your first egg, sometimes even 7 months. But if 7 months lands in the middle of winter - well, then you're gonna be waiting until next spring.

I have NJ Black Giants, and they started laying right at 6 months. Ditto for the other large breeds I've owned in the past.

Also, you can put a wooden egg, or a golf ball in their nest to start giving them the idea.

[Bluey]

Much new research is giving us a different idea of what cholesterol numbers are, where it comes from, who needs to watch for it and why.
Also, that for most people, if they don't have a problem, they don't need to watch so carefully.

Here is a little of how blood lipids and other works in people, as you get them from eggs.
Scroll down to that part:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=92

[RacetrackReject]

Ok chicken experts, my hens are fake Ameraucanas, Easter Egg Layers. Would they be late to lay as well?

Here is a link to one of my hens in her "turn out".

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/weltemaker/random%20stuff/ck__birds_0671.jpg

Just for giggles, here is my young stud rooster, same age as hen. He hasn't turned evil yet, but has been crowing for a bit over a month.

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/weltemaker/random%20stuff/ck__birds_0391.jpg

The other 2 partial chickens in that photo are from a different and much younger batch of chicks hatched in July.

[foggybok]

Interesting. I had a physiology prof who said, and I quote, "If your body is going to make cholesterol, it will make it out of dirt". Dr. Smith was one of those scrawny, wiry types who, in my experience, are the ones who DO have high, as in off the charts, cholesterol readings.

That said, I LOFF eggs, especially fresh off the farm ones. I am thinking of joining the rest of you chicken ranchers, but am unsure what to do about resulting, inevitable fatalities. And no, I'm not killing 'em for frying/roasting after they stop laying. Nothing that has a name goes on the table. But sooner or later, the girls will die of old age, assuming a fox or coyote doesn't snatch them. So what are the rest of you doing?

ha ha, sounds like something Rudy would say....

[foggybok]

Ok chicken experts, my hens are fake Ameraucanas, Easter Egg Layers. Would they be late to lay as well?

Here is a link to one of my hens in her "turn out".

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/weltemaker/random%20stuff/ck__birds_0671.jpg

Just for giggles, here is my young stud rooster, same age as hen. He hasn't turned evil yet, but has been crowing for a bit over a month.

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq111/weltemaker/random%20stuff/ck__birds_0391.jpg

The other 2 partial chickens in that photo are from a different and much younger batch of chicks hatched in July.

My Ameraucanas have not started yet, the were hatched May 1.

Neither have my RIRs

I love your roo! very interesting colors! My roo went bye bye.....

[foggybok]

That's a great story!

My theory is:

Eat right, exercise, and die anyway.

So I live by this creed - Live every day as if it were your last. One day you're sure to be right.



Once more, with feeling! :D

Words to live by .....:)

Yup, there's only one way out of this world.......

[BLBGP]

Like others have said, BO's tend to be later bloomers because they have a lot of growin to do first. This thread is really interesting about earliest/latest first egg ages for different breeds (I recommend the entire site, great info): http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=231744

They also say that hens tend to start practicing the egg song and "squat" when they are getting ready to lay. Squatting is when you approach them and they hunker down to the ground and pull their wings out slighly to the side (as if you might be their rooster).

Racetrack Reject: Easter Eggers seem to be all over the board with their start dates. But hopefully you'll get a nice blue or green egg once it comes!

By the way, I'm the proud owner of a 20 week old rhode island white, two 18 week old RIR's, and one 16 week old EE. No eggs yet.

[JSwan]

You know - the next Off Topic Day we have we should post recipes requiring lots of eggs.

Will someone remember that because I'll forget if I don't write myself a note.

[deltawave]

A huge proportion of our cholesterol level is genetically determined. The range, if you will. Where we lie in that range depends on what we eat and how we live.

My cholesterol range, for instance, is 400-500. :eek: Yup, no lie. :rolleyes: If I eat crap (college lifestyle, anyone?), it pushes the 500 mark. When I went vegetarian/no fat (worst two months of my life!) it plummeted . . . all the way to 420! :lol: Now I take my meds, eat sensibly, and it's 190. :) Runs in my family, even my organic, fruits-n-nuts, size 4 sister has wretched cholesterol. ;)

As to "what will I do when my chickens are too old to lay?", well, I haven't decided yet, as I'm still waiting for egg one! :) I've got room, they're cheap to feed, I'll probably just let them hang around, or have the vet euth them one day when he's out doing shots, etc.

[subk]

You know - the next Off Topic Day we have we should post recipes requiring lots of eggs.

Will someone remember that because I'll forget if I don't write myself a note.
Maybe we don't need to wait until OT day for recipes for eggs we get "around our farm" since this is actually the "Around the Farm" forum, yes?

When I went vegetarian/no fat (worst two months of my life!) it plummeted . . . all the way to 420!
Sounds like my new favorite song: "I gave up smoking, drinking and women last night, and it was the worst 15 minutes of my life." That song actually push "I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor" off the top of my personal list. Of course, since I convinced my 16 year old daughter that the songwriter wrote it after seeing her dad and I on our farm, it will always have a special place in my heart. I had her hook, line and sinker!

[2DogsFarm]

2Dogs, eggs are good for you. As long as you don't cook them in butter or bacon fat, your LDL will be fine. :) Eggs don't make your cholesterol go up, it's how we cook them, and what goes along with them (bacon, sausage, biscuits 'n gravy, etc.) ;)

TYVM, Ms Enabler :mad:
I do use nonstick cookware and very little butter - said no to transfat a while ago.
Since the invention of pre-cooked bacon, no drippings can lives on my stove :(
I did make a dayglo yellow egg salad - with lowfat mayo - that was yummier than the usual.
Must be all the bugs the girls eat freeranging...

Hope you soon hear the Egg Song and get some henfruit of your own to play with :D

sleepy:
MuaHHaHa!!!!
Come to the Dark Side!
Chickens are amazing, amusing little animals.
Mine will live out their lives as pets. When they stop laying they can come down to the pastures and do Pest Control on the manure piles.
Everybody has a Job here at 2 Dogs - the livestock amuse me, I assure their comfort & wellbeing, they return the favor & the Cycle goes on

[Sleepy]

I am definitely getting chickens, the only question is when! :winkgrin: I was planning to wait until I retire in 2 years so that I won't have to worry about being there at dark to shut them up, not to mention the fact that 9 months of the year, it's dark when I leave in the morning.

But you guys missed the point of my question. I have no problem with them roaming around for 5 years after they stop laying but sooner or later I'll have bodies to deal with. And at age 70, I don't expect I'll be in any shape to dig holes. :cry:

I am encouraged to see that a lot of you have Buff Orps as that is my chicken of choice. My sister wants Leghorns, but I'm putting my foot down on that one based on previous unpleasant experiences. I'd also like some Wyandottes and maybe some barred Plymouth Rock.

As for egg recipes, there's always egg salad and homemade mayo. Yummm. I'm actually planning to sell some at a local market.

[RacetrackReject]

Thanks for the info guys! I guess I will just keep doing the "please lay an egg" dance for a bit longer. Maybe I can just get a video DW doing the dance and play it for my chickens =O.

Tks Foggy! I like my roo so far. He's not aggressive at all, more a pansy really, runs from everything. His color seems to get more of a pattern as he gets older, so I'm curious what he will turn out looking like. I may post him on a chicken forum and see if there is a name for his pattern, but idk if I'm that brave yet.

Fingers crossed that everyone starts getting eggs soon.

[Trixie]

But you guys missed the point of my question. I have no problem with them roaming around for 5 years after they stop laying but sooner or later I'll have bodies to deal with. And at age 70, I don't expect I'll be in any shape to dig holes.

Call your vet, I'd imagine they have a system in place for cremating/dealing with dead animals without a place to go.

Or, better yet, hire a cute young thing to dig them for you.

[goodhors]

For the old chickens, you could compost them if you have a bin. Puts them back into the cycle of life on the farm. Compost pile has to be easier to dig into than holes in the ground.

Not sure what kind of chicken, but the old neighbor man had one pet left from his last bunch of chickens. That hen was OLD we moved in. We were over talking to him, made a joke about fresh eggs daily. He said she had not laid in 5 years then. She would come out every day and follow him around as he puttered doing things outside. I expect he put up bugs and earthworms that she ate to keep her near. We watched her following him for years. She had the whole henhouse to herself, he put a heat light out there in winter.

I think she must have 12-13yrs when she died. It was a sad day for him. She got buried in the garden, ground was already worked up.

[foggybok]

They also say that hens tend to start practicing the egg song and "squat" when they are getting ready to lay. Squatting is when you approach them and they hunker down to the ground and pull their wings out slighly to the side (as if you might be their rooster).

.

Well, the ladies have taken a fancy to my husband. They follow him around squawking and squatting. .... They seem to think he can help them out somehow...... I hope this means an egg is forthcoming.......

[Hampton Bay]

And just because they have started laying, they might just stop laying. We were getting 2 to 4 eggs a day around the middle of August. Then they just stopped while we were gone for our wedding/honeymoon. Now the ducks and white chickens lay maybe 1 or 2 eggs a day, but still nothing from the barred rock and the easter eggers.

Though we did lose our best hen. She was fine in the morning, dead a couple hours later in the back of the pen. Not a scratch on her, and she was still in the pen.

[foggybok]

We got an egg! perfect little brown egg! One 324.00 egg! Woo hoo :D:D

Obviously one of the RIRs, and I think I know which one it was...

Take heart Delta, you'll get yours soon! :)

[Reynard Ridge]

And just because they have started laying, they might just stop laying. We were getting 2 to 4 eggs a day around the middle of August. Then they just stopped while we were gone for our wedding/honeymoon. Now the ducks and white chickens lay maybe 1 or 2 eggs a day, but still nothing from the barred rock and the easter eggers.

Are they under lights (as others have mentioned)? If they are not, the days are getting too short for the hens to lay any more. We used to keep a light with timer in our hen house; I think we kept ours under lights 17-18 hours a day. And we had great egg output right through the winter. :yes:

[foggybok]

we hit the trifecta today....

We collected are usual 2 early morning eggs from the RIRs, but for the afternoon check, there was one brown, one tan and one blue egg in the nest.... My Ameraucanas are laying! woo hoo!

Delta, are the ladies giving it up yet?

[Wanderluster]

My favorite eggs came from my Ameraucana hen, big green ones. She layed for about a year then stopped? Can that be normal ? Btw nothing appears wrong with her she runs the world. ;)

[deltawave]

Well, they're under lights, their combs and wattles get bigger and redder every day, and now when I go to catch them they squat instead of clucking hysterically and trying to run away. Getting closer, I guess, but still eggless!! :lol:

[2foals]

Well, I think your initial question has been well answered, but let me just say I adore the buff orpingtons. I got a few with our order this spring, just love that pretty gold color. If you want something similar looking that lays a little earlier though, you might want to go with some buff rocks--also very beautiful.

[deltawave]

So yesterday after a craptastic day (dead laptop with ALL my lecture prep materials on it, due TODAY) I was gifted at feeding time with a perfect, itty bitty pinkish-brown egg from one of my chickies. :) They're all doing the rooster squat every time you come near them, and were 24 weeks old to the day yesterday, so I guess this is maturity time! :D

[JSwan]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!

Another 324$ egg! :lol:

Sorry about the laptop.

[foggybok]

So yesterday after a craptastic day (dead laptop with ALL my lecture prep materials on it, due TODAY) I was gifted at feeding time with a perfect, itty bitty pinkish-brown egg from one of my chickies. :) They're all doing the rooster squat every time you come near them, and were 24 weeks old to the day yesterday, so I guess this is maturity time! :D

Woo hoo! Congratulations! How will you prepare it?

[deltawave]

How will you prepare it?

I may chuck it at my laptop. :D

It wouldn't be more than a mouthful, so I think I'll wait until there are a few, and then scramble 'em for breakfast--my son's and my preferred egg preparation mode. Hubby likes 'em poached.

[harveyhorses]

Yippee! I'm so happy for you. Think we might try in the spring to sneak some chickies in. I can always just tell anyone who knows me 'they just showed up'.
Good work girls!