Layers pellets and laying eggs

[Gregg in exile]

Hello,

I am new to keeping chickens, it is something I have wanted to do for years but never really got around to it until now. I have 6 chickens, 4 hybrids (Bluebelle, Sussex Star, Skyline x 2) which are about 20 weeks old and 2 Araucanas which are 18 weeks old.

However, I have a few questions.

1. They seem to eat everything in the garden and in the run EXCEPT the layers pellets, which they only eat in small amounts. The leftover sweet potato, cabbage, potato, spinach etc plus the mixed corn and the stuff they find in my raised beds (they were full of Poppys last year, probably never again) seems to mean they don't eat anything else. Is this normal?

2. They always sleep together in the nest box, this drives me crazy. Should I clean it out every day?

3. I've read that if I leave it to mid-morning to let them out they may be encouraged to lay eggs in the nest box. Is this right?

4. Now, I know it is cold at the moment, but when can I expect an egg?

5. How old can these ladies get to?

Thanks for the help! I think I am hooked already!

[Chookaholic]

hiya Greg and welcome !

Make sure for the first part of the day they only have access to pellets so they get what they need. also if theyre not laying yet they shouldnt have layers pellets as theres a lot of calcium in them . My chooks if given the chance will eat anything bar the pellets so i dont treat until after 3pm

poo pick every day and do a total clean once a week. While its getting colder they huddle and go into their coops a lot earlier therefore more poop ..... Im amazed with the amount 9 chooks make!

I let mine out as soon as im up ....which is between 7 and 7:30am . They go back in to lay . some lay early in the day but i have 2 that lay in the afternoon and Gertie lays around tea time . theyre all individual

They start laying around 20 to 25 weeks. however some stop when it gets cold and some wont start if theyre late hatching and will start the following spring. I have an araucana and not had an egg yet so im expecting our first blue egg in Spring. My Sablepoot hasnt laid either , but my maran and warrens ay every day.

they love to keep us on our toes !

Good luck

[lancashire lass]

hi Gregg & welcome Chickens are like children - they would rather eat pudding and sweets than eat what they should LOL. And as I'm finding out, have a right tantrum when they don't get what they want but persevere and make sure they eat the pellets first before letting them have other things to eat. Just be wary of what there is in the garden that is edible - apart from losing precious plants, be aware that some things might be poisonous to them.

Re: nest box - I had 3 wanting to sleep in the (2) nest boxes (once I spied the bully Bluebelle actually on top of the quiet Amber but she wasn't for budging) I left them to it rather than try and coax them onto the perch and as they got older, they seemed to know when to move onto the perches on their own and now none sleep in the nest boxes.

The hybrids might start to lay in a few weeks time (I'm not sure really as I'm new to chicken keeping too) - mine started to lay in late September and are still in "full production" even though light levels are down, shorter days and it is much colder, but from what I understand this is not unusual in their first year as they are bred to be layers. I have no idea about pure breeds.

[Mo]

Hi, welcome to the Lane.
Do your hens have a reasonable sized run as well as being let out to destroy your garden?
If so you could let them into that in the morning with just pellets. Pellets are quite concentrated food, they will only eat about a cup-full a day. I think I read on here that when they are younger than yours their systems cannot deal with extra calcium, if they are laying they need it but I think yours are OK (Manda or Bluebell will know, they are our experts).
Obviously if they are sleeping in the nest box you need to remove to poo as early as possible if you want clean eggs.
By the way, if you do get mucky eggs you shouldn't wash them before storing as this might destroy the protective 'bloom' on the shell and drive the germs into the egg.

You ask 'when will they lay', 'should they roost in the nest box' etc. Hens are very individual, do what they please. All we can say is what often happens. I have had Black Rocks and White Stars that have laid at 17 weeks. My Bluebell was slower to start (more than 20 weeks I think) and then stopped for the winter. Egg laying is partly governed by amount of daylight. In the wild it would be silly to have chicks in winter, and our breeders haven't entirely changed that. Some hybrids do lay through their first winter. Some pure breeds don't lay till 6 months old anyway.
So you may have to wait till spring or you might get a surprise egg (and some of them also surprise by being tiny or having no shell until they get the hang of it).
I suspect some breeders say 'point of lay' when the hens are much younger.
What do their combs look like? Pale pink and tiny, or big and red. They change as they get ready to lay.

Enjoy them, most of the members here are hooked, besotted and completey chicken mad.

[Gregg in exile]

Thanks guys...

I think I am already chicken mad. I was researching for many month prior to getting them.

Yes, I have a reasonable size run and when I am home they have the garden. It is a really small garden (10m x 5m) anyway. I was moving house before the chicken arrived but a week before exchange it all fell down, grrr!

So, we are moving to 1/4 acre on 6/12 so they will have a lot more space. Then I will need to think about the large run vs electric fence - any thoughts on this would be most welcome.

My chieckens seem happy with life, they get lots of green and boiled up peel for treats. My Sussex and Bluebelle have big red floppy combs. The others are all pink and quite underdeveloped - especially the Araucanas. It is the Araucanas that enjoy scratching around in the garden the most.

I wasn't expecting eggs from the Araucanas until spring. I am hopeful the others will lay soon. Although I don't mind too much if they don't. If the Araucanas and Skyline (Hybrid chicken) aren't laying, but the others are should they still eat layers pellets?


Gregg

[Mad Chick]

Hi Gregg

Welcome from me too

Chooks are so addictive aren't they?

Yours should be fine now on layers pellets - most are already being fed these before being sold.

I would keep treats to a minimum and only give them late afternoon when they've eaten a good amount of pellets - their pellets contain everything they need, treats are just so they stop making us feel guilty with their pathetic sad-eyed looks given to us through the patio doors

Some of mine insist on sleeping in the nest boxes too - I just scoop out the poo first thing in the morning

You could try putting a china egg or even a golf ball in the nest box when they start to lay - this may encourage them to lay there - if they free range all day, you may well have a daily hunt for eggs under all the bushes and hedges.

[Gregg in exile]

Thanks all!

I had two eggs this morning, how flipping amazing. I almost felt proud of them.

Gregg

[secret squirrel]

Hi Gregg. X
Chickens will start laying from 16 weeks onwards depending on the breed. Posh girls tend to wait till about 18 weeks onward.
Mine (when they are in lay), lay 4 or 5 eggs a week each. They are having winter hols at the moment, so few eggs. Haven't had any from them for about 3 weeks.
Some breeds, lay all through the winter. My impression is that hybrids are more reliable winter layers than posh birds, but I expect others will,have a different story. Just my observation.
Some go off lay during moult but not always. 2 of mine laid through moult and THEN stopped laying. Typical.
Ours have layers pellets available all day and treats only in the afternoon and not EVERY afternoon. If you feed corn, only, they may lay less or not at all, as one of my neighbours discovered.
Why do they all cram into,the nest box? Because,then can!!!! Lol
Just because "I" like a tidy coop with all,the straw on the INSIDE, ???? the first thing they do is fling it all out.
You will get to know and enjoy all their funny ways as you spend time with them and don't forget "they are not literate and haven't red the book," xxx
Lorna