The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Kitchen Cottage on March 02, 2014, 08:04:37 am
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Now... these were REALLY oven ready and their feathers have grown back beautifully. I started letting them out yesterday and moved them into a shed with 6 other ex bats that came on 22nd February.
The hens have stopped eating at such a ridiculous rate (20 kg in 4 days for 14 hens) and are in nice hay (ran out of straw) and have good access to water...
They are on layers pellets and I mix corn in hay outside just for them to have something to peck about for.
They should be in Henny Heaven.
Now.... the most pertinent question..... how long before the little bleeders come back onto lay! ?
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they might never lay again,, some do some dont
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The commercial breeders let them go after they have had them for their maximum productive life and usually when they start their first moult sometime around 18 months. For now they will use their reserves to grow back their feathers first and then start laying again. You may find when they do that some of them have bad habits like egg eating, not always but it is common so be prepared for that, although hopefully yours will behave.
I won't have ex-battery any more, they were too much trouble, we've had too many vent peckers, egg eaters and deformed egg layers. You nurture them back into lay and then find they all want necking, it's heart breaking :(
Having said that we have had the odd absolute darling from an ex-battery batch, one hen used to follow hubby around if she saw a garden fork in his hand and came running like a dog if you called her by name.
You should get eggs by spring if they have regrown their plumage and the eggs will be bigger but not so many as a first year layer.
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I've had two sets of ex bats... and they both layed well.... these were scrawnier though...
I'll give them til April otherwise.. that's a lot of chicken stew!!
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By april most should be laying again. Just picked up 20 myself. Still got a dozen or so knocking about from a couple of years ago. You may lose the odd one but most will recover and repay you in eggs.
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I picked up 20 in Dec... not come back into lay yet although they were in a fairly poor state, they were ex free rangers.
They are looking sooo much better now so fingers crossed for the next month or so, I'd rather they put all their energy into getting better for the minute, and I don't think this weather is helping them.
I had 15 last year and they are still laying really well and had a plentiful supply of eggs all summer, so not too worried as these have come from the same farm.