[Stablechooks]

Hi All
we have had our wonderful brood with us for 2 months.. and still no eggs! 1 each of Buff sussex, Ancona, silverlace wyandotte and pekin.. plus silkie cock.  They are on layer pellets, have oystershell and range free all day. I have just completed a course of flubenvet which has helped put some colour back in to their combs (may be imagining it though). I guess they are either too late or too young... or just not interested in egg laying sept-jan?

Am thinking of getting a couple of blackrocks to train the others!  Any advise on introducing newcomers?

[ellisr]

Be patient!

If they are youngsters they may not come into lay until spring, My last lot hatched in June most probably won't come into lay until spring, but I don't worry as this means they have a chance to develop fully and there laying will go on a bit longer in there lives.

It gives you a great opportunity to get to know them all and there ways before they start laying and it will be noticeable to you which ones have started to lay if you know there behaviour.

Getting some Blackrocks maybe a good idea as mine have always shown the pure breeds the way and they lay well and eggs are always of good size and quality.

[Stablechooks]

Thanks Ellisr, any advice on introducing the new ones... we only have one coop!

[ellisr]

If they are all just youngsters then introducing them shouldn't be too hard. I just pop the in together and watch them for a while if they are not POL and if they are alying it gets a bit more tricky but again I open up a very large area put downnumerous feeders and drinkers and somewhere for the new ones to get away and let them get on with it for a while just keeping an eye on the squabbles. It normally goes ok as long as everything around them is calm, I have only had 1 instance of a bad attack and I used a small coop with a 4' fence and took 2 away from the flock within a few weeks they were hoping over and joining the rest themselves.

Always remember to quaritine any birds you buy in for a couple of weeks to make sure they are healthy.

[sabrina]

My youngsters hatched first week in May only starting laying a couple of weeks ago so I would not worry 

[doganjo]

I find that introducing new birds to the old flock is better done at dark, then in the morning they seem to accept they have always been there.

[Stablechooks]

Thanks All, sounds like a couple of blackrocks smuggled in under cover of darkness will be the way to go! I read somewhere that it is always best to bring a couple of newbies - rather than just a single. Any views?

[doganjo]

Yes, that's right too.  Two heids are better than yin.

[Snoopy]

Because of the dark nights, you may find that the chickens just do not have enough daylight to
produce eggs.

All ours stopped laying three weeks ago.

We haven't bothered this year, but in the past we have put lights into our hen houses that work
on a timer switch, and swithc on to maintain that they have 12 hours of daylight.
This has worked for us in the past.

Only reason its not on now is that the pup chewed all the wires and we do not have time to
re-wire, so disconnected it for this winter

[Mary B]

We had some "point of lay" chickens that took ages to lay, but they're all producing like mad now.  I suspect sometimes folk are a bit keen to move them on, so they are not always at "point of lay", but I'm sure yours will start laying in time and will be worth the wait.

We also have 2 black rocks that lay well.  I'd agree with the idea of introducing new chickens at roosting time in the evening.  We've just introduced two lovely bluebells to our flock of 14, and they're doing fine (although not yet laying).

I've had more enjoyment than I though possible from our flock of hens - they've all got different characters and we've managed to get them to pay for themselves by selling enough eggs to buy their feed - we're starting gently on the finance bit of it, but paying for themselves is enough for now.