[Durham-Lad]

Me and the kids bough four hens a fortnight ago, they are 17 weeks now...

I am about to change from Rearers to layers pellets, is this about the right timing?

Also, a bloke on the next allotment told me to put a "fake" egg in the nesting area, to encourage laying, he said it with a wry grin so was he pulling the proverbial out of me??

Cheers again...great place for new allotment and hen owners..

[Bodger]

No mate, its good advice  

[Foxy]

No mate, its good advice  

Absolutely, also make sure you use "blue" or "red" fake eggs these encourage them to sit - you can even get pink ones I hear!

[compostqueen]

I didn't but my hens still laid without any lessons    Well cept, one  

Mine were 19 weeks when I bought them and the guy said they'd lay from 22 weeks and he was right  

[Durham-Lad]

Thanks all...

[Kiwi]

we just put white fake eggs in their beds. Interestingly enough, there are 4 beds. We only got 2 eggs and they only lay in the beds where the eggs are  

[Littley]

I was about to buy some china eggs for my new, non-laying, point of lay  chooks, when I saw that my daughter had been bought a rubber bouncy egg by my mum!

It was probably a fraction of the price of those china ones and looks just like the real thing.

It did the trick, as we found an egg the following day    .  I will probably get another one for the other nesting box; like Kiwi, we only seem to get eggs in the box that the fake egg is in  

If you do get a rubber egg, don't do what I did and bounce it on the floor in front of a small child!!  It was only after he dropped one of the real eggs on the ground that I had to explain to my next door neighbour's 4 year old that real eggs don't bounce!!! :shock:

[Kym503]

I used a few golf balls ... mine eventually got the hang of it!

Kym

[peggyprice]

I used a few golf balls ... mine eventually got the hang of it!

Kym

... but they cluck 'FORE!' every time they lay ...

[Littley]

Guess what!  I tried a little experiment today...

I put my fake egg in the other nesting box and voila!  My little darling laid her egg in the same box.  Nobody has ever used that one before.  

So there you go, there is something in this fake egg business!!!

[Chickenstreet]

I bought two of the brown rubber ones, and they laid their eggs right next to them.  We have one who doesn't lay much, but if I put the fake egg in she usually produces an egg the next day...strange.