The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: thestephens on August 17, 2011, 09:06:14 pm

Title: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on August 17, 2011, 09:06:14 pm
new to hens, we got 4 hens last week, as we were putting them in their coop one escaped and we have been unable to catch her, we kept the others in their coop for the day so in the evenings they make their way back no problem but the fourth is never to be seen but when i go to open up in the morning she is waiting for her friends! any tips on catching her??
we havnt had any eggs yet, how long before they settle in my other thought (reading in a book) would they be going through the moult there is a lot of feathers in the coop and outside.
sorry if its silly questions, cant believe how quick you get attached to hens!!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: little blue on August 17, 2011, 09:12:44 pm
how old are they?
And what breed?

If they're moulting they are likely to be in their second year.

Pullets (young girls!) can be up to 26 weeks before they lay, especially hybrids like Warrens.
They will also go through alot of feathers as they get bigger, like kids outgrowing their clothes!

As for catching your escapee .... it may take a cold night before she realises she is better off indoors with her pals!
Try encouraging them in with a treat of corn & the habit may form that they all go in and get rewarded (shut the door quick!) I'm sure she'll not want to miss out.
  Watch them a few nights, to see what time / light level they are going to "bed" especially your tree - dweller, and then try to match the corn-giving to moments before this.
 
Good luck :)
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: ellied on August 17, 2011, 09:33:38 pm
I got 4 pullets around 19 weeks and one started laying at 20 weeks on 1 August, the next two at 21-22 weeks and today is the first day I've had 4 eggs in the same day tho I'm not sure whose eggs were whose of the 3s and whether someone was just having days off while getting established :)

The first was a RIR and she now lays massive eggs :o where the BlackRock, Sussex Star and Bluebell are smaller eggs but getting there gradually :)  The BlackRock clucks VERY loudly when she's laid so you always know but the rest are all but silent and the RIR is often in the afternoon like today..

Less than a month on I am utterly besotted by these girls and spoiling them rotten ::)  I'm going away tomorrow and have a friend staying to look after the animals so she's had lots of instructions and I know I'm going to be texting for reassurance that they are all ok ;)

Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Barrett on August 17, 2011, 09:48:33 pm
When you buy a laying bird you can purchase them as young as 16 weeks classed as POL (point of lay) all hens are different I have had Commercial Brown hens that have laid at 16 weeks though other breeds as late as 26 weeks during this time you will have some really bizzare looking eggs some only membrain and no shell or they lay really small eggs then they get bigger and bigger all depends on the hen, I used to have meat birds and I kept a couple of the girls to cross with my handsome Light Sussex cockerel and they never laid at all just got really fat and died  :-\
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: little blue on August 18, 2011, 10:22:53 am
our first egg from our 26 week old warrens was a huge double yolker - none of that wind egg nonsense from my girls!!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Roxy on August 18, 2011, 10:30:09 am
Are you sure they are not laying outside somewhere?  I have some hens who prefer to lay under sheds, in nettles.  Pullets especially do not understand the idea of nest boxes.
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on August 18, 2011, 11:53:27 am
again "beldie" was waiting for me this morning to let her pals out, its so bizarre, you can imagine them saying "right we are off to our beds now, see ya" and then she she goes wherever!
Breeds, 2 lovely golden  brown ones!!! (one has a darker head) an all black one and a white with touches of blacks, sorry my kids wanted " normal" hens not fancy ones so didnt really ask!
told the were between 1 and 3 although the black one is 4 months old so not expecting anything from her. I have been checking under bushes etc, they seem to like making an earthy type of mound to sit in?
going to try to find out what time they go to bed tonight!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: darkbrowneggs on August 18, 2011, 03:11:51 pm
You could try giving them as much layers pellets as they will clear in 20-30 mins in the morning, and then nothing else from you throughout the day. 

Come early evening go and throw some pellets or wheat in the house (and just outside the pophole) for them to scratch for. (Dont forget to call them with a Chuck Chuck Chuck as you do it) 

Once they are all in shut the door.  After a while you should find they will all go in to roost.  If you leave it you may find eventually they all prefer to roost outside, and then they are at more risk from predators

All the best
Sue
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: northfifeduckling on August 20, 2011, 09:58:51 pm
my trick to get them to come is chickweed, an absolute treat. Once they associate you with food they will be around your feet! :&>
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on October 02, 2011, 04:16:52 pm
ok a few weeks on, for a week we got one egg a day from Hilda, white hen, Belide is still roaming free at this stage then they both disappear at different times, but then it all stopped, Hilda had been missing for 2 days and Beldie a week. Today we have found 2 nests each had 14/15 eggs in them!!!!
so i take it they have decided to sit on these eggs because we havnt taken them away hence not seeing them?
good point it i managed to catch Beldie and have put her in the run area of the coop (not happy) but im thinking now i should have put her in the coop and closed the door!
(set up is coop with small attached run which is left open all day and the have a 3ft high fenced area which they are free to roam but they aslo jump from and explre the rest of the farm)
if i keep them in for a day in their coop will they start laying in there or will they go back to the nests made?
any advice will be greatly received!
kids have had a ball floating the eggs to see which are fresh!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Mel on October 04, 2011, 09:29:07 am
 :wave: I have three new girls,one cream crested legbar and two ixworths and at dusk-or just before-they are nowhere to be seen,after searching the entire paddock i found they were in the tree behind the chicken coop! Some do prefer to roost in the tree's ;D I had two years ago purchased 12 warrens-sold to me as point of lay,this was in July,they started laying Christmas day :D
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: feldar on October 04, 2011, 10:13:17 am
I have to laugh with my girls when i want to catch them    no chance off like a rocket  when i'm late for work trying to feed everything in a hurry  i trip right over them they are so under my feet!!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Roxy on October 04, 2011, 10:42:25 am
You will need to keep them in for more than a day to break the habit of where they lay.  If they see all the eggs are gone, they will probably find a new hidey hole to lay!!  What I do is leave one egg where the bantams are laying out in the nettles, and mark it, with a marker pen so I know thats the "dummy" and they usually carry on laying there with the one egg.

Mine are all moulting now, so only a few eggs a day for the next few months I expect!!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: skyeman on October 04, 2011, 10:52:12 am
hi , i had the same problem with one of my chucks, caught her with a fishing net while she so foolishly fell for the sweetcorn treat. put her in the coop for the night with the rest ,after that, no problem
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on October 04, 2011, 04:13:35 pm
great advice! yep you were right, one night wasnt enough to change their habits, by bedtime beldie was nowhere to be seen. although she is hanging out with her pals longer...... no eggs to keep cosy and we havnt had an egg since so i guess the search is on to find the new nests!
There is something satisfying about learning from your mistakes????
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on November 16, 2011, 07:24:16 pm
Beldie is still roaming free3 months on, even with their new luxury new shed conversion she will go in there during the day but come night fall she is gone..... husband was out for a wander last night and found her on a very wobbly branch of a tree almost hanging like a bat, we managed to pull the branch down but she escaped, tonight she is so far up the tree its amazing, surely she must be just hopping her way up there and not flying??? at least mr fox wont catch her!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Barrett on November 18, 2011, 01:06:03 pm
Dried Mealworms they are expensive for a small amount but fantastic, my young cockerels try all that I'm not going in nonsense though when the mealworms come out they just can't resists them, give it a try.
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on November 18, 2011, 04:58:50 pm
got the mealworms too, cheapest place to buy is "homebargains" so much cheaper than anywhere else ive found!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: Barrett on November 18, 2011, 05:31:02 pm
She is a stubborn madame if the mealworms haven't worked she might need a cockerel to keep her in order, I have never been without a cockerel so not sure of the behaviour of girls without one, poor bugger though he is seriously henpecked they run circles round him. ::)
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: thestephens on November 18, 2011, 07:44:46 pm
As i say, shes quite happy to go into the shed during the day but come night time she is up that tree again, Dont know if i could smuggle a cockerel in past the husband!!
Title: Re: when will they lay??
Post by: deepinthewoods on November 18, 2011, 08:15:58 pm
could you not clip her wings back? she must be flying a bit or at least fluttering hard yto get up in the tree and maybe havin her wings clipped would unsettle her enough to get her out of the roosting habit.