Sore subject! Only one of the six has been laying properly through the winter, and she is a second year hen. All but one of the others are first year hens who moulted! We had about six weeks of very cold nights here, down to -8. I have been buying eggs for months and feeding 18 chickens all winter (11 youngsters)
Starting to dream of roast chicken dinners....even though I have been vegetarian for 30 years!
My 2 Girls Clover and Bonny have been laying all winter . Clover a Miss Pepperpot is 3 and a half and stopped laying the middle of last year but started again in October and has now lays most days and Bonny a ginger nut who is 2 is still laying most days. Rosie a ginger nut who sadly died last week at 2 was always a surprise if she ever laid and her eggs were so thin shelled that a boiled egg was out of the question .
4 lovely girls~~ Clover, the oldie and top chick Bonnie second in command .new girls Bluebell and Blossom. 2 lovely new girls 19-01-2015~~ Chelsea and Ruby. Eva , Florry , Poppy ,Annie and Rosie R.I.P The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” - unknown
Out of my 2 ex batts, Sal still helps herself to her soft egg every morning (she believes in a good breakfast!) and Sweetie has started to lay again after around 2 months (wish they would both stop!) One of the 2 teeny Bantams is tentatively laying 2 or 3 of times a week, so not too bad
Of my three big girls in their second year, two are still laying. The third is still moulting hence not laying. My two bantys stopped laying at the beginning of their moult and haven't yet resumed but they never laid much anyway. I have been quite pleased to have two still laying through the second winter especially as one of them is a pure breed. I have just about managed without buying any eggs, hurrah!
We have 4 hybrids who are now in their second winter. Bluebelle (who's a Bluebelle!! ) only laid for the first couple of months that we had her so she's just entertainment value! The other three laid all through last winter but are a bit hit and miss this year, we even had one day over Christmas without a single egg . You may have read in a previous post that Speckle had a very very bad moult and hadn't laid since about October but we had a first egg off her again this week. The other two who are a Ranger and Rhode Rock are doing OK but take the odd day off. Thankfully I haven't had to buy any eggs but I haven't been giving any away or selling them either. Hopefully things will start to improve as the days get a bit longer
Kath xx
Mum to my beautiful girls Lucy, Holly, Rosie, Hettie, Polly, Ruby, Lily, Penny, Gracie, Maisie, Molly, Evie and my gorgeous boy Toby
RIP my beautiful Ranger, Roxy, Bluebelle, Poppy, Speckle, Daisy and Honey xxxx
Up until this week, my 4 girls that I got Point-of-Lay in September have each been laying an egg every day (with the occasional one less every 10 days or so) since they were wormed in November! On Tuesday it dropped down to only 2 eggs, 3 yesterday (could just be coincidence that the ones having an off day all decided to do it on the same day LOL) It struck me this morning though that the Amber hasn't laid in 3 days - she might be having a rest or surprise me when I get home tonight, but I will be giving my girls a good check over this weekend to make sure they are well. They seemed fine when I fed them this morning.
We've got 4 chooks - a 4 year old speckled sussex, 2 x two year old Orpies and a 2 year old hybrid.
We haven't seen any signs of eggs since mid October when they all went into a moult together. They've all been fully feathered since mid November but still nothing. Nick keeps threatening them with a box of paxo
Lucy x
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut - Ernest Hemingway
Wiggy, our Skyline, has been moulting since October, and so we have had no blue eggs at all for ages now. Apart from that though, the other four girls are still trying hard and we are getting three or four a day. Not counting my chickens though...
Since my three girls had their moult in autumn, only one is laying thin shelled eggs, which she breaks and eats the yolk. I have tried all the rememies with her to no avail.
We've got 4 chooks - a 4 year old speckled sussex, 2 x two year old Orpies and a 2 year old hybrid.
We haven't seen any signs of eggs since mid October when they all went into a moult together. They've all been fully feathered since mid November but still nothing. Nick keeps threatening them with a box of paxo
Glad I'm not alone! At least I am getting one pure and the occasional thin (or rather they are getting it!)
albertajune wrote:Since my three girls had their moult in autumn, only one is laying thin shelled eggs, which she breaks and eats the yolk. I have tried all the rememies with her to no avail.
We have tried everything with one of our's too to no avail. Hopefully we can get going properly soon, the pullets are not far off.
Mine dropped right off for weeks, I've had to buy eggs from the farmshop over xmas hols. But I'm sure they think its spring now - we're suddenly getting lots of eggs, the girls are looking beautiful & Smidge is strutting his stuff & giving them his treats.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." --Immanuel Kant
1 of mine shut up shop last August, with the other 2 following soon after. Then they blew all their feathers, but got them back pretty quickly. According to my last years calendar, one of them started laying again in February, not long to go now if they follow the same pattern :)
Not sure if all Welsummers are like that, but mine definitely like long holidays, they were nearly a year old (well, 9 months is nearly a year!) before they first laid !!
Regular entries focusing on Nature in the Garden and beyond
Clover a Miss Pepperpot is 3 and a half and stopped laying the middle of last year but started again in October and has now lays most days and Bonny a ginger nut who is 2 is still laying most days. Rosie a ginger nut who sadly died last week at 2 was always a surprise if she ever laid and her eggs were so thin shelled that a boiled egg was out of the question .
. You may have read in a previous post that Speckle had a very very bad moult and hadn't laid since about October but we had a first egg off her again this week. The other two who are a Ranger and Rhode Rock are doing OK but take the odd day off. Thankfully I haven't had to buy any eggs but I haven't been giving any away or selling them either. Hopefully things will start to improve as the days get a bit longer 
I have tried all the rememies with her to no avail.
