This week I ’m respond a question that comes from one of our readers , Angela . She asks :
“ My chickens are 27 weeks previous , and they ’re still not laying eggs . They are layers , and I do n’t know what to do . avail please ! ”
Angela , generally , a young biddy younger than 1 year ( known as a frier ) begins lay ball around 20 weeks of age . I ’m estimate your mass hatched around the first week of May . Your flock and all its variables — stock , locating , environment , diet , surviving arrangements — all play a part in determining when pullet will make intimate maturity and start ovulating . I do have a go at it for sure , though , that theywilllay . It ’s a somatic function you could n’t stop if you tried . Soon , you ’ll have so many eggs that you ’ll be looking for Modern ways to use them .
rent ’s talk about three affair that can affect how early or latterly a great deal begins to lay bollock .
1. Hatch Date
In the northmost region of the U.S. , the calendar month of May can be a routine previous to get a passel move . The further north you are , the shorter your days will be through fall and wintertime , and this affects output . As your pullets get closer to maturity , the days keep getting myopic , so while they ’re gearing up for production , their surroundings is going dormant .
Today in Louisville , Ky. , for model , the sunrise is at 7:15 a.m. , and sundown is at 5:38 p.m. With just 10 hr and 23 minutes of sunshine today , my old hens are nearly done with production for the class . My pullets will be 20 hebdomad old on Dec. 15 , but I do n’t expect them to bulge set until well after the new year begin . Once they do start , their production will probably be sluggish but unbendable as the sidereal day get a little longer . Once spring get , I ’ll start out see the abundance I ’m used to getting from my flock .
The lifelike regular recurrence of the season is the only caveat to starting a flock that hatches later in spring .
2. Diet
Are you still feeding chick freshman ? If not , switch back until you see some eggs in the nest boxful , then offer bed provender . If you ’re worried about remnant , mix starter and layer together after they ’re laying until you run out of starter . fryer need the protein formulation in the starter feed for proper ontogenesis .
Are you offer grit ? The calibre of the sight ’s dieting also calculate on its ability to “ chew ” the feed . guts play like teeth inside the crop , so the better they can dig up their food , the more nutrition they can suck , just like humans do when we chew our intellectual nourishment more thoroughly .
3. Winter Break
Because we ’re only about six weeks off from the short day of the year , many of our hens are about to take a winter fracture . The young hen and pullet that will continue laying through the winter will slow up down their yield , and older hens , like mine , may block all together .
Why ? Producing body warmth to delay warm take a lot of energy . so as to adapt to colder weather condition , chickens by nature divert energy to survival . Also , hens set testicle ( ovulate ) for reproduction , not with the goal to feed us . Layers ovulating course produce one or two clutches of eggs per year , usually in spring and fall , to make baby . Human eaters call natural production “ unreliable . ” Because we require an testicle every mean solar day , we ’ve bred biddy to ovulate at an unnatural rate .
I allow my hen to ascertain their instinctive rhythm because over - ovulating can pass to health problems , like ovarian cancer , which is dominant in elderly prolific layers . However , to address the gist of short day , you’re able to supplement your mint with twinkle inside the coop . That could be the trick to get your fryer move .
Thanks for your question , Angela . I hope this helps . Please let me know when your flock bug out laying .
permit me bang what other chicken - keeping questions I can help serve on “ Chicken Quarters”—remember we ’re all in this together !
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