Cluck Cluck
 

I'm having a slight dilemma with my four Chickens. I bought them from a Farm 8 Weeks ago, and the Farmer checked them using 2 fingers and said they were almost ready to lay.



He said about 4-5 weeks. None of my hens have laid an egg yet though.


I've been providing grit in their food and separate grit on the floor. They are on pellets and I treat them with corn, bread, biscuits etc.


they are about 25 weeks old now.....I'm perplexed.
I do not have any grass in the coop, and ive been thinking that this is a reason why. I was thinking of spreading fast growing grass seed in parts of the coop, or perhaps buying rolls of grass every few weeks. but do chickens lay eggs without grass?


I know chickens need grass for the bright yolk but i don't think it's a necessity is it?

Any help appreciated.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I believe it can be up to 6 months depending on the breed and the time of year.
Sounds like you should be getting close to the first few tiny eggs soon.

:)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

6 months? ouch

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

what about nesting ,have you got nesting boxes for them ?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

So you went on an egg hunt on Easter Sunday? :D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

LOL. Yeah I did.

I have nesting boxes in the Chicken house, the last lot laid eggs in there and were happy enough.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

just be patient ,hens can be very fussy as can all birds where they nest and lay .My gran had a few chickens and a couple of them didn't lay for about a year

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

a year? they stop laying after 3 years, im never going to get my omlette at this rate

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

You have to remember that they aren't machines ,they aren't interested in laying your breakfast ,just laying eggs when they feel comfortable and secure in their surroundings

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

yep i know... i guess i'll just have to wait longer. My Dad mentioned pottery eggs, I might try buying a few to encourage them

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

they do work ,my grandad used them to good effect for his pidgeons

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I don't think they provide grass for battery hens and they still manage to lay eggs. Maybe it's a shame they don't need grass at least that would make battery cages a thing of the past.

Could you not consider adding a couple of older rescue hens to your flock which might speed up your production of eggs? Googling Rescue Hens brings up loads of sites across the country.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I'd love to get a rescue hen, but im scared my 4 hens would pick on her.

Also the run itself is 12ft x 12ft, I'm not sure if 5 hens is ideal for tht size

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

What if you put a few eggs in there to give them ideas to start laying eggs.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

tried that hal, they still didnt bother though.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I thought putting eggs in with the hens was just to help if one was broody?

It sounds as though you will just have to cultivate a little patience along with all the veggies you are now growing. In a few months I can see us giving you ways of using all the surplus eggs. :D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

yep ,i think we should pre-empt the "what the hell do i do with all these eggs"thread

so here ya go Barewolf :D

http://www.cookuk.co.uk/eggs/omelette-recipe.htm

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

If all else fails you'll get a nice casserole..

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Hmm, I dont think I will have that many, I estimated that each hen on average lays 300 eggs a year, so 4 hens will lay on average 1200 Eggs a year which averages about 23 Eggs a week.

As you know I love cooking, so a few Quiches, and Cakes will easily use them up.

But.....When I had my last lot of Chickens (Three) they only laid about 7 a week, so my estimate of 23 eggs a week might be way off, I might only end up with about 10-12.

When they finally decide to lay that is. No eggs this morning, Again.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

i had this for sometime Barewolf, but they eventually laid in the end. Patience is key

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

when they start laying i would be inclined to expect 1 egg per day dependant on season and age of the hen ,you may get more ,you may only get 1 every other day all depends on the hen

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

It seems starting this thread has had a positive result. I checked the coop last night and i found not one, but two eggs. I was shocked.

they were only small eggs, but i'm just glad they have laid.

:D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Briliant. I'll have a full english breakfast with scrambled eggs please. :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

The first few eggs will be tiny as their systems are getting up to speed. Sometimes you'll get misshapes or thin shells too. They'll soon settle down.

Still, eggcellent news..

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Carrying on from DaiNasty, you will find that there will be some blood on the eggs to start with, but this is normal as the part where the egg comes out (I forget the actual name) will tighten, so it will make it easier to lay.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Well we got another egg today, they were rather small, but we had waffles, egg and beans for dinner :D and they were yummy.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

The anus?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

have you tried wringing the neck of one infront of the others as a warning?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

That's no way to treat a lady!

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Biology not a strong subject at school?

;)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Hmmm. I stand corrected.

I'd never realised that they use the same shared exit. But then again I've never spent a lot of time staring at chicken's bottoms.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Or paid attention in Biology lessons at school? :p:

(I didn't know, I was just being flippant :))

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I now know more about chickens than I ever wanted to...

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

and you were more right than you knew it seems.

:shocked:

---------- Post added at 10:00 ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 ----------

Vent away..

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Update....

Since the chickens started to lay, on easter monday, weve been getting roughly 4-6 eggs per day.

Yesterday we had 6 eggs, but one broke. I dont think one of them is eating enough grit.

Even so, we have so many eggs that we dont know what to do with them all

:D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Pickled eggs!

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Told you so. :D Get yourself some packaging and give a few away as gifts to visitors. ;)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Yep thats what we do, when we get too many. How many chickens have you got then?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Excellent idea.
I don't keep hens but I do the same with garden produce. It is always welcome and the recipients appreciate the thought and attention - I do tend to focus on the elderly, lonely, infirm around me and even people I can't stand the sight of :D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

got 4 chicks all together.

i dunno about pickled eggs, thats a bit of an aquired taste. lol

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Make frittata - you can chuck whatever you like in it. Bacon, potato, spring onion, tomato, cheese, herbs, seasoning etc. A bit of salad and crusty bread and there you go :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I think that's great news for you .I know you have put a lot of hard work into this and am pleased it's working for you ,all you need now is for some busybody to complain and a jobsworth from the council to start quoting rules and 300yr old by laws .Personaly i think more people should do this sort of thing .All of my grandparents had chickens/bantams and veggy gardens sadly these days it is very much out of fashion and deemed "unhealthy"by some ,i see it as a way to get nicer more healthy food and a good educational experience for the youngsters

well done that man :tu:

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Luckily our neighbours arent too fussy. I dont know why they are deemed unhealthy, I was actually very surprised at how clean chickens were, i mean obviously they poo alot but chicken poo is one of the best manure to use on your plants.

cant vouch for chicken poo manure though as i havent actually used any yet, but i might do this year.

i also dont have a cockrel, they are too noisy, so the locals havent got anything to complain about really, fingers crossed anyway :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Most fowl are clean ,it is second nature to live in clean surroundings ,and i know from my own experience that chickens are very fussy about the cleanliness of their surroundings
Alot of people i know would deem them unhealthy simply because they are alive and aren't wrapped in cling film :rolleyes: as for an egg with a feather stuck to it god forbid their little darlings should ever touch it ;)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Well ive mostly been a vegetarian most of my life. Theres a special word for it. I'm not a vegetarian as i do like sausages, bacon etc. But i wont eat steak, lamb, pork etc.

I rarely eat chicken, but I do love my Chicken madras from our local asda, they dont do a vegetarian one.

Since getting the chickens ive noticed i dont eat chicken anymore, very rarely nowadays.

I certainly couldnt eat "MY" chickens. I dont know how people can raise their own pigs, chickens, cows, and then eat them.

I mean lets face it, they are part of the family. :D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

each to their own but my nan regularly necked one her chickens for sunday dinner ,but they were different times ;)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Hell no, I couldnt do that

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2011/05/86.jpg

How could you neck this poor cutey

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

awww bless ,(look better in pan with some tatties round it) ;)



just joking :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Now that is cute. :) Is she sleeping lol. What breed? :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Do they have names?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

That one in the picture is a speckledy, she lays speckled eggs as well.

There names are

Eeenie, Meenie, Miney, and Mo

That one in the pic is Mo. She was resting her eyes in the picture. She also is the smallest one I have.

I'll try find some other pictures of the others. The copperneck one is nice, has lots of colours in her feathers.

---------- Post added at 15:37 ---------- Previous post was at 15:35 ----------

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2011/05/84.jpg

This is a speckledy Edit - Copperneck



https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2011/05/85.jpg

This is a sussex

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I have a Light Sussex named Edie, and a Bluebelle named Nellie :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

You need some rabbits too.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

To lay eggs or to protect the chooks from foxes?:D

I clearly know nothing about hens....... or rabbits.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Heres my Bluebelle

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2011/05/83.jpg

:D

---------- Post added at 15:45 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------


I have no room for rabbits, I wouldnt mind a goat.

Gats Milk, Goats cheese..........

Plus all the home grown vegetables, and the hens eggs, its like a mini farm at my house lol.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I'm getting a bit lost here.
I never considered livestock as pets :confused: Keep them and eat them or what they produce, otherwise - what's the point?
Hands up - I never ate my goldfish, hamster, guinea pig or dog. I really wouldn't want to have to stretch a hens neck sharp enough to kill it but have had to smack a fish out of it's misery on a stone wall after a feckless son landed it by mistake. Other people can do that far better than me :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

To you it may be livestock, but you dont get to see them everyday and stroke them, feed them etc.

they each have their own personality just like our other animals, so to kill a chicken that i have raised is like killing a member of the family.

I wont even kill a spider so i wouldnt neck a chicken, unless it was me or the chicken situation, even then i dont think i could do it.

obviously i dont get sentimental over some walls sausages, but i guess if i had my own pigs, i would think different about eating sausages or bacon.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I think I may have offended you and that was never my intention.
I'm sure that if I ever kept pigs, etc, I could never happily see them off to slaughter.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

im not offended, its probably just the way i worded it.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Nah - probably just me really. But I'm glad you weren't offended.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Would that word be carnivore :D

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

In my grans case it was a throw back from the war when everybody was encouraged to grow fruit and veg and keep a few chickens ,i would like to see it make a comeback ,but nowadys house gardens are so small as to make it impractical ,the only houses you could do it in would be the houses built pre 50's

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Quite a few of my mum and dads work colleagues keep chickens and it seems to be pretty popular :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

its probably popular because of the price of eggs nowadays, not to mention the eggs are organic free range.

chickens eat just about anything, you could feed them on food scraps and still get eggs, you dont have to buy them pellets. I do because it gives them their full balanced diet.

i suppose if you cooked a lot of vegetable stew, soups, pasta, you could easily feed them on scraps.

So £15 Per chicken = £60
Food Scraps = £0

4 Eggs per day roughly, they soon pay for themselves.

:)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Am I the only one suprised that Mr. LM hasnt posted a picture of his cock yet ?

ahem,cough.....oh my, that's fowl.....

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Yep they sure do, I also feed mine on Layers Pellets

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I've been such a keen, potential-keeper-of-hens and will batter the brick wall I keep battering myself against again in the hope of wrecking a prized lawn :D
I'm so glad you are having so much reward from your chuckies.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

My brother keeps chickens, and here is a useful tip from him. Collect the used eggshells, crush them and add to the chicken feed. You will be recycling calcium, which birds regard as a precious metal.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Hmmmmm, Why does the idea of a poultry version of Ramsdens appeal ?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

ermm... you do know bacon is pork right?

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Think you've got too many eggs? We've got 11 hens at the moment - Mrs p keeps "rescuing" them. Four ex-batteries, three ex-free range, a Light Sussex, a Barnevelder, a Rhode Island Red and a Crested Cream Legbar. Completely egged out.

We tried them, but their eggs are a bit small and chewy. :shocked:

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Have you ever had the surroundings tested for salmonella? If you intend to give eggs away in this day and age of lawsuits I dunno if I would give stuff like that away

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Good point, Zing, I'm sure but do you mean the ground or their food/water supply? Or the eggs themselves?
Seems a shame to give away fresh eggs with a health warning.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

well because its only 4 birds they could be tested. I have no idea about how you go about it but salmonella may exist in the birds themselves and therefore passed on into the eggs. Now this is not an issue if the eggs are cooked properly but if they are not it could create issues. I know battery farms have to be 100% clear to operate.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I beleive personally that if you have fresh water everyday, fresh food, and the chickens are happy, that there will be no salmonella.

40 years ago (Before I was born), my parents used to eat farm eggs, and home made cheese, butter etc, and they never heard of salmonella, let alone got it.

Ive never had salmonella either. I think its all down to treating the chickens sensibly. The media tend to blow these kind of stories out of context and scare the public. thats the reality of it :)

I wouldnt have them tested unless i noticed something wrong with the eggs on a regular basis.

@Spiderplant - Small chewwy eggs do not sound normal, it sounds to me like they havent yet adapted to their new lifestyle and envioronment.

I wouldnt eat those eggs for at least 12-16 weeks after, until they have settled down.

I cant really say for certain as ive never had rescued chickens. But it just seems like common sense :)


I'll have to give my eggs away........in 7 days ive ended up with over 22 eggs. And weve eaten a load of eggs this week.

The good thing is that my dog "Gracie", loves scrambled egg, however we cant just feed her that.

My neighbour buys eggs but she buys the asda smart price eggs which are battery hen eggs. I could give her some eggs, at least then she wont buy them and that will help all round.

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

Re-read my post (including the bit from Halcyon that I quoted) :) The rescued hens actually lay very good eggs from the day after rescue.

As for salmonella, I agree it's not a great risk with sensible hygiene practices and vaccinated hens. (I wonder how many people wash their hands after handling eggs when cooking? I know I didn't until I found out where eggs came from!)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

How do they know? How do you knwo you have never had it? its not serious in most cases and could just be an upset stomach and the squits which easily be put down to a bug but could be food mild poisoning :)

---------- Post added at 15:45 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

See I did not know there is a routine vaccine for hens as you say that shoudl be enough :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

---------- Post added at 15:45 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------


I dont. Normally if I have eggs, the whole family has them also as part of a meal, so i'd assume if we all had upset stomachs you could say "It may be salmonella".

I still dont think theres much to worry about. Its far more likely that people will get flu than salmonella. And as you said, its not really a serious condition in most cases. ;)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

I was just airing on the side of caution. More than happy to learn from those more informed than myself :)

Re: Cluck Cluck
 

salmonella is a naturally occuring bacteria in chickens intestines ,the bacteria is usually passed into the egg through the egg shell which is porus (eggs have soft shells that harden upon contact with the air but remain porus) ,if the egg is layed in un clean surroundings i.e the chicken droppings haven't been cleaned out regularly then it is possible for the bacteria to pass through the shell into the egg or if the egg is not washed before cracking then contamination can be passed that way ,you don't get salmonella from the egg the egg gets salmonella from the chicken droppings passing through the chickens intestine so as long as you wash the eggs and your own hands (especially after mucking out) you will be perfectly safe