New Chicken Mum.

[Food Fairy]

Hello,
Please may I have some guidance.
Last Sunday we adopted 5 ex-battery hens. They had all spent the 4 days previous to this at a free range farm awaiting their new homes.
One of them laid an egg on the journey home, then we've had 3 eggs every day since then.
However Saturday and Sunday there's been a measly one egg :-(
They are eating well (Layer's Pellets, corn and green veg waste plus worms and insects from the soil) they have water freely available and very comfortable surroundings.
I'm wondering if they are under the impression that they get weekends off, which is not in their job description.
Also a couple of the eggs have been fertilised. Did this happen while they were at the farm last week - if so, how long is an egg from cell to shell (or omelette pan).
They have no contact with and gentlemen chickens here, but probably had at the farm last week.
Will their laying pick up, is this just a knock-on from being moved around?
Love
Jaquelyn and her far too happy hens

[spudqueen]

Don't expect an egg a day - my friend has hens and they don't always lay every day.

[feebee102]

My chickens can be effected by the weather.If it's to hot no eggs.to cold or damp no eggs.Also it all depends on the age of the chickens.When battery farms get rid of their chickens it is usually when they are past their egg a day phase.As they get older the number of eggs per year declines.They will also go through a moult about Oct/Nov time.When they are moulting they will lay very few or no eggs at all.This can last up to 3 months.It's natures way off building their bodies again.This last year all off my chickens,ducks and turkeys moulted at the same time and I had to go and buy eggs for the first time in five year.
Your chickens could be just settling in.Also if your chickens are fed to much they get to fat and lazy and don't lay eggs.

[feebee102]

Good luck with your girls and enjoy them(not in the roasted way).I can sit down with mine all day and watch them.
As for the fertile egg thing,not to sure,all mine run with a cockerel so not thought about it much.Will look in my books and post a reply later.

[horsestache1]

Sorry to hijack your question Food Fairy.

I'm thinking of getting som chickens, and I wondered if feebee, you could recommend a good book?

[feebee102]

I swear by Michael Roberts book,Chickens at home & Poulty and waterfowl problems, or Chicken Keeping by Katie Thear.
I have bred my own chickens for some years and these books are my Bibles.

[bensmum]

Great - I was thinking of getting some chickens and you have answered my question too!

[meltoadhall]

well done on getting batteries :)
we have have 5 hens and are waiting for the next battery rescue in June.
you can eat fertilized eggs, all our eggs previously were probably fertilized before our boy moved to a new home. they only become chicks if mother hen sits on them for 21 days
chooks can stop laying for any reason - too hot, too cold, too windy, just enjoy them and think what you saved them from.
if you get a glut of eggs in the summer, you can freeze them for the winter when laying is minimal.

[Illyria54]

Good for you for rescuing these poor birds, they will repay you with many lovely eggs, we have rescued a lot over the years. You will probably find that they will go off laying for a little while until they settle into their new home, they have been moved from the battery farm to a free range farm and now to your garden, keep feeding them up and they will soon settle in and start to lay again.

[feebee102]

Check their vent (where the egg comes out)for any mites.This can cause them to stop laying.The mites are not hard to miss.They tend to converge around the base of the feathers,leaving a chalky clumpy deposit around the feather stem.This can be treated by either buying a spray or powder,or altenitivley have a area of garden with either sand or ash in so they can have a dust bath.
According to one of my books an egg only takes a few days to form.

[feebee102]

Any one getting chickens try looking at http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryP age.html.
This has a great list of different breeds.
If you are getting battery chickens,good for you.They can have a absoluteley vile life.A lot of the local lads have worked in nearby chicken farms and I have heared of some horrific stories about the treatment of these chickens.
They deserve so much more!

[Food Fairy]

Thank you for all your encouragement and thoughts. We've had 2 eggs today, which is hopeful :-) I think I was right - they don't work weekends.
Please keep sending your thoughts on my ladies,I do appreciate it as I am very new to this.
I thought I'd send a link to the people who do the battery rescues in case anyone else is thinking of getting hens.
Ours were 50p each and are 18 months old, so hopefully should live and lay for a few years.
It was great because the
http://www.thehenshouse.co.uk/index.html
At the moment, they sleep in our summer house. It has windows that are meshed over, but don't close.
Should we be thinking of something with closing windows over winter time?
Thank you again for your advice.
Jaquelyn

[feebee102]

Hi Jaquelyn.
They do need to be in an enclosed pen come the winter months.Hens are prone to get coughs and colds when the weather turns colder(not avian flu,so don't panic).
In the darker months they will tend to lay less eggs,due to the lack of daylight.Some people put a light bulb in their hen houses to force extra laying time.I don't believe in this as I think the girls need a rest in the winter.
Try them on Pasta.My girls love it,I think they think it's worms.
A cap full of cider vinegar in their water once a week is also good for them.
You can get something called Chicken spice(not for cookin them) that if added to their food gives them a boost in the winter or if they are off colour.
In the winter I usually add some hot water to their pellets and leave it to cool which then turns into a mash.Add cooked veg peelings and serve to them warm,they love it.
Look out for scaly legs.this is also caused through a mite.If they start to get this go to the chemist and ask for a lotion for Scabies and crab's(you might get a funny look,but explain) and paint this on their legs for a week.

[Food Fairy]

Hello fellow chicken lovers.

This is a bit long but please bear with me.

Well, we're 3 weeks down the line in the story of our hens.
They almost completely stopped laying for about 2 weeks but seem to be back on track again with 3 eggs Saturday & yesterday and an amazing 4 today :-)) They are starting to regrow feathers as well so they look quite funny at the moment.
I am so ashamed to say that I think we'd been starving the poor darlings. The rescue told us to buy layers pellets for them which we did and they weren't eating much. I thought that perhaps they were enjoying the garden so much and getting lots of worms and seedlings etc that they weren't fussed about the pellets.
Whwn we went to the suppliers at the weekend to look at some houses for them as we've been given some exterior grade plywood and we want to move them out of the summer house as it's too big to be warm enough in winter. Anyway, he showed me some layer's mash and I have to admit it looked much more apetizing, golden corn and maize etc. Anyway, we bought a sack of that and they attacked it like a plague of locusts. They haven't stopped eating since.
I feel so guilty that I thought I was doing the right thing, and the poor little hens were starving.
Anyway, more questions.
I need a lesson in the birds and the bees, well the hens and the cockerels actually. I'm confused. As I said our ladies have been with us 3 weeks yet I'm getting the odd eg that looks as if it's been fertilized I think yet they have no contact with any gentlemen chickens.
I'm assuming they're fertilized - they have red specks in them and sometimes a thick membrane joining two sides of the yolk. Is this fertilized or am I assuming wrongly. If it is fertilized, how on earth are they managing it????
Love
Jaquelyn and her brood