Author Topic: New to hen keeping (Read 3478 times)

welshlass181 · « **on:** January 26, 2011, 05:36:31 pm »

Hi, I bought 1 POL hen before xmas and she started laying 2 days after xmas day

and to me delight her very first egg was a double yolker. I have since then bought 2 more POL hens from the same yard. What i want to know is :- After they have been moved how long can it take them to settle down and start laying again? Some ppl say a week or so and others say it can take several weeks. I am a touch confused

i am only getting 1 egg a day so think that the original hen is laying.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2011, 06:30:33 pm »

if they are POL have they actually ever laid yet? mine were POL and had not started to lay (hence point of lay) but started within a fortnight. I bought them at around 16/18 weeks i think.
a couple of my new POL's haven't laid yet and I've had them several weeks now.
I guess its how old they were when you bought them, if they'd ever laid, if you are feeding layers pellets etc etc

welshlass181 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2011, 07:41:22 pm »

The guy i bought them from said that they had started to lay and it would take a while for them to settle in. Not sure how old they are, but he did tell me. They are on Layer pellets, corn and some veg as treats and i they've been with me for nearly 2 weeks

faith0504 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2011, 07:45:52 pm »

they will lay when they are ready you cant rush nature, might be moving house plus time of the year just wait till lighter nights and warm weather you will have more eggs than you know what to do with

Womble · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2011, 09:45:30 pm »

Don't worry about it! We moved house just before Christmas, and all of ours went off lay for about three weeks, despite them still being in the same house etc. Good things come to those who wait!

Buffy the eggs layer · « **Reply #5 on:** January 28, 2011, 05:56:51 pm »

If they are laying before you get them they often lay one egg, which will have been on the way before they moved before downing tools until they settle in. Changes in routine, enviroment, diet and establishing a new pecking order is as stressful for chickens as moving house or starting a new school can be for people. How long they take to get back in their stride can vary but I find moving POL birds more disruptive than established layers. POL is a description of their developmental stage and a bit like people the age that the become sexually reproductive can vary. some can take a few weeks longer than the others of the same type to get going. Its still quite early in the year yet, even some of my productive layers havent started laying again yet this year.

There is an old rule of thumb which says that laying birds stop on Bonfire night and start again on Valentines day. Not all of my girls observe this tradition but there is probably some truth in the fact that by mid Feb, the longer days are providing the required amount of daylight for hens to lay.

Buffy

egbert · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2011, 10:49:02 am »

When I got my new hens 1 was POL and 1 was maybe a week or 2 younger, they took about 5 weeks to settle and start to lay. I also got some ex-batts at the same time which laid from the start, then went on an 8 week spa break (moult) which they probably deserved after their previous life. Now I get an egg from all 3 hens every day (lost 2 ex-batts unfortunately.) I got them in April originally.

Jonny · « **Reply #7 on:** February 04, 2011, 07:35:48 pm »

usually depends on how stressful the move was for the hen, but also some hens do take longer to start laying than others. You will never be able to accuratly predict when a hen will start to lay.