Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Chicken Chat => Topic started by: falcieri on January 10, 2011, 19:34
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When I turned my garden into an allotment last year I got it into my head that keeping hens was a good idea. I always dreamed of the good life and though our garden is small and we live in a terraced house it all seemed to fall into place. Some friends keep and breed a variety of chicken breeds and suggested Bantams - Booted Bantams (Sablepoots) to be precise.
We live on a tight food budget so growing things in the garden AND getting free eggs sounded like a dream come true. So I bought three little Bantys towards the end of the summer. They weren't old enough to lay then, but the hard work and care has already paid off. Two of my three are already laying (I've had 3 eggs this week).
Who else's hens are laying already? I'm surprised they've started so soon. The winter has been bitter and although the temperatures have shown a marked improvement I fear there is more to come. We already have spring bulbs appearing in the garden too. It feels like spring is on its way.
Those first eggs are very exciting!
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Three a day from my four, and that's becasue one of them is moulting.
However, they are hybrids and tend to lay 300ish a year each.
BB
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None at all from mine :(
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I have 3 laying at the moment, 1 is just coming out of a moult and should start within a month and the other two are two young. And the other two are boys so not really expecting anything from them! :happy:
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I am getting between 5 and 7 eggs a day in the nest boxes but I do know some are laying elsewhere - it's just a case of trying to find out where ::). My little silkie x Claudette though has just decided to leave the trees and set up home in a coop so she is going to be broody for a few weeks again >:( - she has a pattern of lay 3 eggs then go broody for about 6 weeks, partial moult, lay 3 eggs and so on :lol:.
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4 eggs a day out of 7 birds, silkies and seramas :lol:
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We are getting between 3 and 5 a day from the girls we hatched in June,
the 2 bantams aren't laying yet and our old lady Daisy has laid one huge double
yoker last week, as much as a surprise to us as it was to her as she is coming up to 4 yrs old and is an ex batt!
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Funny you should ask that this morning because I had a nice surprise of an extra egg this very morning. One of our pullets has been laying steadily since September but none of the others untill this morning. One of the old ladies layed and she hasnt layed since Summer of last year YEY!
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Mine are Hybrids & have had eggs from them all until last few days where a couple are laying every other day.
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Well mine have stopped laying, for the last 11 weeks!! But thats because they went into a mass moult, then the snow, etc. We started getting 1 or 2 from the ex batts so I'm hoping they kick off soon, since people are chasing me for eggs each week!
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Hi
3 of mine are laying but 2 of those are young pullets but one resumed laying 2 days after Christmas following her winter break! :)
Roll on Spring :D
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I have 4 Hybrids and I get 4 eggs a day, sometimes I get 3 eggs in the nestbox and one in a nest made in the hedge behind a large tree. ???
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We only have two hens at present (two died during the autumn) and they had not laid any eggs since the summer of 2010. We really thought that their laying days were over. Then to our surprise they started laying again last week and we have been getting one or two eggs per day.
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I've got 4 ex-batts and they are laying on average 3 a day. One of my girls has her own special little place in the garden. I found a clutch of 5 eggs by chance! She goes to her special spot every day to lay and then I go and collect it :)
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ive got 14 ex bats and have been getting around 8or9 eggs a day but for some reason but a pleasant suprise i got 13 eggs yesterday but back to 8 again today! the bantys havent laid for weeks but for last 2 years they have laid on the 18th of jan!
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I am getting between 5 and 7 eggs a day in the nest boxes but I do know some are laying elsewhere - it's just a case of trying to find out where ::). My little silkie x Claudette though has just decided to leave the trees and set up home in a coop so she is going to be broody for a few weeks again >:( - she has a pattern of lay 3 eggs then go broody for about 6 weeks, partial moult, lay 3 eggs and so on :lol:.
Ha ha Joyful she's even worse than my wee Silkie x's. Least they manage to lay for about 3 weeks then 6 weeks :D :D
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Snowy has started again after a months break. She will be only one out of the 5 until March/April time.
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My Friesian Flora started laying on Jan 2nd and Dora the other Friesian started on 11th Jan and one yesterday but no eggs today
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I've been getting about one a day for about two weeks from my five. However, today I got my first proper usable blue egg from one of our legbars in at least a year!!!! Completely shocked I was too! Not really had many eggs in 6-8 months, as all mine stopped laying for some reason. Two eggs in one day is fantastic for me! :D
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We have a mixture of pure breeds, bantams and hybrids, two white stars are laying one each every day, maybe 4 eggs between the other 5 a week at the moment though!! :blink: