is anyone experiencing their chickens not laying eggs for the last nine months? I think its something in the food? Does anyone have any suggestions or food recommendations?
Thorough and informative, as usual! I relied on posts like this one before we got our chicks, and I continue to learn from you.
Now we have a mix of ten chickens: 4 Buckeyes, 2 Olive Eggers, 2 Coco Marans, and 2 Rhode Island reds. I named them for their breeds so I could remember them: Buckwheat, Spanky, Darla and Alfalfa (Buckeyes); Olive Oil and Popeye (Olive Eggers); Coco and Chanel (Coco Marans); and Big Red and Little Red (RI Reds).
They're all great foragers and seem to get along fine. We've had eggs throughout the entire winter, although fewer, of course. Still enough to need one of those egg carousel things! We've just been writing the date on them with a Sharpie and digging through the basket to use the oldest first.
We used to keep them stacked in egg cartons with sharpie and masking tape everywhere, so I hear you there. The first in first out thing is really lovely. I'd never heard of Buckeye chickens, thanks! They seem like a wonderful choice =)
Buckeyes are also protectors. They're great mousers. A few weeks ago we found a number of blood spots outside the coop (outside their enclosure, but inside their run). We checked all the chickens and they were fine... I think one of my Buckeyes may have killed (and eaten) an intruder. :-)
If you have a lot of hens in a coop, there's no real sign unless you see her laying in a nesting box...which is unlikely. If you really need to know about a particular hen, the thing I'd suggest is isolate her for a few days. Dog crates are really good for this. Make sure she's comfortable, with food and water and a safe nesting box in there...as chickens stop laying when they're stressed...so you want her to make a nice little house in there for a few days.
Hi Ashley - I have been following you and your great advice and expertise on so many subjects for a very long time. I have always saved everything in a folder on my PC and refer back to so many subjects over time. I am now devastated to say - that I found that my Ashley folder has completely disappeared. I do have an external drive and to date - have not figured out how I can retrieve all of your extremely valuable info. My question is - is there any way to find all of this wonderful info in any place on your site or have you written a book that would include everything that you have shared over the years? I keep hoping that I will hit the right button and there will be my coveted Ashley folder!!! I recently changed my email address and started a new Ashely folder, but praying that all is not lost! <3 (I just realized that this is a chicken Q/A, but it is one that I followed in liming our eggs and it has worked wonderfully!)
You've got quite a collection of really good articles on chickens...learning a lot. Now my question: what comes first, the chickens or the chicken coop? I want chickens, but, I want to have a good coop waiting for them. Have any good articles on coops?
is anyone experiencing their chickens not laying eggs for the last nine months? I think its something in the food? Does anyone have any suggestions or food recommendations?
Thorough and informative, as usual! I relied on posts like this one before we got our chicks, and I continue to learn from you.
Now we have a mix of ten chickens: 4 Buckeyes, 2 Olive Eggers, 2 Coco Marans, and 2 Rhode Island reds. I named them for their breeds so I could remember them: Buckwheat, Spanky, Darla and Alfalfa (Buckeyes); Olive Oil and Popeye (Olive Eggers); Coco and Chanel (Coco Marans); and Big Red and Little Red (RI Reds).
They're all great foragers and seem to get along fine. We've had eggs throughout the entire winter, although fewer, of course. Still enough to need one of those egg carousel things! We've just been writing the date on them with a Sharpie and digging through the basket to use the oldest first.
We used to keep them stacked in egg cartons with sharpie and masking tape everywhere, so I hear you there. The first in first out thing is really lovely. I'd never heard of Buckeye chickens, thanks! They seem like a wonderful choice =)
Buckeyes are also protectors. They're great mousers. A few weeks ago we found a number of blood spots outside the coop (outside their enclosure, but inside their run). We checked all the chickens and they were fine... I think one of my Buckeyes may have killed (and eaten) an intruder. :-)
Is there a way to tell if a hen is laying?
If you have a lot of hens in a coop, there's no real sign unless you see her laying in a nesting box...which is unlikely. If you really need to know about a particular hen, the thing I'd suggest is isolate her for a few days. Dog crates are really good for this. Make sure she's comfortable, with food and water and a safe nesting box in there...as chickens stop laying when they're stressed...so you want her to make a nice little house in there for a few days.
Hi Ashley - I have been following you and your great advice and expertise on so many subjects for a very long time. I have always saved everything in a folder on my PC and refer back to so many subjects over time. I am now devastated to say - that I found that my Ashley folder has completely disappeared. I do have an external drive and to date - have not figured out how I can retrieve all of your extremely valuable info. My question is - is there any way to find all of this wonderful info in any place on your site or have you written a book that would include everything that you have shared over the years? I keep hoping that I will hit the right button and there will be my coveted Ashley folder!!! I recently changed my email address and started a new Ashely folder, but praying that all is not lost! <3 (I just realized that this is a chicken Q/A, but it is one that I followed in liming our eggs and it has worked wonderfully!)
Loved our chickens, ducks, and Guinea hens! Live in city now and miss those wonderful fresh eggs!
You've got quite a collection of really good articles on chickens...learning a lot. Now my question: what comes first, the chickens or the chicken coop? I want chickens, but, I want to have a good coop waiting for them. Have any good articles on coops?