The brighter the yolks the better you can easily tell if they are getting good diet if yolks are bright orange as opposed to pale yellow, always make sure they have access to water, without they can die quickly, remember they don't lay all year round so don't over populate yourself and then it gets really expensive to feed them when they are not laying.
jules.,
Nov 19, 8:20am
when do they stop laying! do they have laying cycles! can they have fertile eggs all year round or is it like most other animals, just in the spring! i have 3 hens and they are all laying at the moment, give or take a few days.
jules.,
Nov 19, 10:10am
gosh they are darlings pagan, have they got feathery feet/legs! hopefully not too long now koru. both my last 2 losts have hatched at 20 days. they are all ding well, slw's are 5 weeks now and the blue orps are a week already!
pagan_princess,
Nov 19, 12:30pm
This is my first 'babies', and the experience has been fantastic :) Just hoping they are all girls lol, will be very hard to give them up if their roosters
koru_designs,
Nov 19, 1:58pm
Just a wee update.we had a lot of peeping coming out of one egg this afternoon (Thursday) & the chick had started pipping, so not long to go now! I took the peeping egg inside briefly so the kids could see it. My two year old??
purplegoanna,
Nov 19, 7:52pm
I m incubating some eggs in my incubator for someone i met of tm, they are the biggest eggs ive ever seen! like size 8-9! apparantly these are the orpxminorca hens that laid them. He offered me a bottle of tipple for doing it for him but i'll think ill take the hen instead.
val14,
Nov 19, 7:54pm
it's the molting season that they stop laying and the length varies for different varieties but about 4-6 mths. Mine usually stop in Feb and start again anything from June - Aug. The molt can be subtle or plainly obvious, with some of my chooks you can hardly tell the difference but some drop their feathers quickly. I used to have one chook that drop them all in 3 days, poor thing she was so naked looking I felt sorry for her.
pagan_princess,
Nov 20, 12:16am
Yes all four have feathered feet. They are so adorable. Mum has them all out in the run today enjoying the sun when it peeks out from the clouds :) I would love to get some blue orpingtons again. Had some years ago and they were absolute sweethearts, even the rooster would come for a cuddle.
thistle4,
Nov 20, 4:08am
Sarah, one of my Plymouth Barred Rocks has just come off her nest of 2 golf balls. She's been broody for around 6 weeks and I like to let mine be broody and have a rest. It was lovely to see her back to her old self, waiting for me to fuss her. These golf balls were the best looked after golf balls in the world.lol
jules.,
Nov 21, 12:00am
gosh thats quite a long time! will they all do it at the same time or does it vary!
jules.,
Nov 21, 12:00am
and again, does it vary for different climates!, we are in whangarei
redrustie,
Nov 21, 1:25am
Jules. it'll mainly depend on the breed and the climates but it's good for them to not lay during that period.They also stop when they go broody so stay away from bantams and try and get shavers if possible as, unless you catch them right, a broody will stop laying for around 4 weeks!
oopie,
Nov 22, 5:58pm
They are extremely addictive - be warned The few times we've been 'between chooks', house just doesn't seem like home.We're running 5 Shavers at the moment, one 'left over ex battery', and four new seasons 'from point of lay'. Four to five eggs a day, plenty for us and a few for the neighbours to appease for the noise etc.We feed commercial pellets, scraps and I save the egg shells, roast them and grind them up in the blender, mix with melted dripping to make a chook cake - they get a scoop every day.They free range, but also have a house and run (which they don't like being locked into.I built their house and fully enclosed run out of demo timber and pallet flats, it has nesting boxes off the side with a lift up lid for access without going into their house.Manuka (the leafy end twigs) in the bottom of the nesting boxes helps to protect from mites.
oopie,
Nov 22, 6:03pm
Rats are our biggest issue We concreted the run and house a couple of years ago to keep the rats out.We back onto bush and rats have been a problem for us.You need a rat proof feed bin, metal rubbish bins are good.Make sure you collect eggs every day, because the rats will take these too.They build themselves a system of underground tunnels.If the rats weren't so revolting, I'd be impressed!We keep them under control by above methods and with poison blocks (contac) wired into plastic drain pipes, again you have to be careful of poison carcasses.Aside from that, once your systems are set up, they are easy to care for, delightful productive pets, with huge personalities.
crackerjack19,
Nov 15, 9:56am
Yep prevention of encroachment by rats etc is far better than dealing with the problem when established.I have not had time to read all the contributions on here but about feeding hens/chooks thier own egg shells.yes this can be done but all residue of the yolks and white should be removed and the shells baked so they break up easily.If the yolk etc is not removed then some hens become (egg canibals),they will also do this if they step on an egg and it is left in the nest,so regular pick ups are a good idea.
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