Foul update.

Killed and ate excess cockerel today. Not much meat on him but he tasted good. Two more to go. The day old chicks must now have grown to be point of lay, and a right mixed bunch of mongrels they are too. My new Ducklings have grown into fine looking birds but no eggs as yet from them. My Ducks that were brought as point of lay are laying well and the eggs sell well at the Mart. We have not yet made a decision yet about Xmas. Still time to fatten a few Turkey poults but time marches on. So all in all things are looking fine. How are you doing?

We have had a good year too. Freezer full of broilers, hens still laying well, that has probably just put the mockers on it, ducks a bit hit and miss with the laying but the eggs selling well. Have 6 under heat just hatched out in the hopes that next year they will lay when the others stop. Just getting started with Bourbon Red turkeys but they are for breeding not eating, also a few quail.
We always have goat for Christmas dinner

Our hens have all stopped laying - even the ones that had only started! Same thing happened last year and they didn't start laying again until December! I really resent buying eggs!!
Our turkeys are getting quite big looking though I've no idea how much of that is just carcass and feathers ..they feel heavy though! Not the brightest of birds God love them and they are a nightmare to get into their house at night but very enjoyable to rear.

Drowned_pig wrote:Our hens have all stopped laying - even the ones that had only started! Same thing happened last year and they didn't start laying again until December! I really resent buying eggs!!
Our turkeys are getting quite big looking though I've no idea how much of that is just carcass and feathers ..they feel heavy though! Not the brightest of birds God love them and they are a nightmare to get into their house at night but very enjoyable to rear.

Hi Drowned Pig. Have you tried putting a bulb in the coop for a few hours. It dont have to be that bright, 40 w is ok , that is according to a local farmer.
Your Turkeys have a lot of growing time still. It would be interesting is know what they weigh now?. Like you say, " Not the brightest of birds". I dont think they even qualify for that description .

Mine have gone on strike too - all except one Welsummer pullet. And her egg is treated like gold-dust! Matured for two days, then soft-boiled. Like drowned_pig, I resent buying eggs. I am buying a few for the dogs but, as for myself, I prefer to do without till my own come back into production. Bought-in eggs just don't cut it!

Same here, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Same last year, but they didn't start laying again until Feb the following year. So I bought 6 'egg laying' hybrid, lovely birds 22 weeks old and all started laying straight away. We kept them seperate and had 5/6 eggs everyday for a week, then we introduced them to the rest of the flock and we had 5/6 eggs a day in the nest boxes, so I was hoping it would encourage the others. But instead, they have joined the others and gone on strike!!!!! I'm so disappointed!! I've checked the house over, nothing to make them stop, fresh straw, I've even added some pot eggs and still nothing!!!!! I now have an extra 6 birds I could have done without if they are just eating my food and not adding anything to the pay pot!!! Baaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!! Might think about the light idea. They free range everyday so it's not like they are confined to a dark dingy area.

Stell

Farmer John sells his eggs to local shops and so must keep a continued supply. He has up to 800 birds at any one time. His light is just 40 watts and is on a time switch. These lights turns off at 8 pm . Hopes this helps.

Just a quick observation on the hens not laying in our flock. We had plenty of eggs until we introduced a lovely rooster that we reared this year. All was fine until he started mounting the hens and now they have stopped. He is going in the freezer asap. We have never had a problem with hens not laying until we try keeping the rooster. It happened a few years ago too, so this year was an experiment. Its one we won't be repeating. Just wondered if you all keep roosters in your flocks.

Deryn wrote:Just a quick observation on the hens not laying in our flock. We had plenty of eggs until we introduced a lovely rooster that we reared this year. All was fine until he started mounting the hens and now they have stopped. He is going in the freezer asap. We have never had a problem with hens not laying until we try keeping the rooster. It happened a few years ago too, so this year was an experiment. Its one we won't be repeating. Just wondered if you all keep roosters in your flocks.

I have found that even the slightest disturbance or break in routine can turn hens off-lay. Adding your rooster could do this. The reverse is true also. ie Removing a rooster. Fickle things. I would guess that your hens were on the point of shutting down anyway and adding the rooster was the last straw. I have one rooster (Gonzo). He is a young bird as are his ladies, should be POL soon. The Ducks continue to lay well. Always in demand at the mart.

Hi Wayland the hens are only young from earlier this year so should lay right through winter and he has been in with them for at least 2 months and plenty of eggs until he started mounting them. He has gone now and the amount of eggs has doubled over the last 2 days. Just our experience in the past has never been very successful with the rooster in there.

Deryn wrote:Hi Wayland the hens are only young from earlier this year so should lay right through winter and he has been in with them for at least 2 months and plenty of eggs until he started mounting them. He has gone now and the amount of eggs has doubled over the last 2 days. Just our experience in the past has never been very successful with the rooster in there.

Well Deryn. Nuff said me thinks. This has got me thinking about my young rooster. I wonder if I were to remove him my POL`s will start laying. He does not seem that interested at the moment anyway. We killed two surplus drakes this week. These were from the incubator and were far too big to run with the Campbells. Absolutely delicious. These have been replaced with two young Campbell drakes which were from a batch of all female ducklings bought from Myshall poultry sale`s. Alls well that ends well. What happened to your Cock?

He was incinerated. Wasn't worth the effort of plucking him.

Well we have 3 hen houses all kept separate from each other and one house has NO rooster in it, just 8 pol's and we get one egg every third day argh!
Definitely going to try the light bulb trick!

Our POL`s have now started laying. Well one of them has. Gonzo the silky/?? Cockerel is still running with them and a feisty little bugger he is. Not a chosen bird but he did come out of the bater so I will give him a chance. A stocky bird, perhaps his offspring might make a half decent table bird. Time will tell.

.Well that bows that theory but it seems to work for us. Good luck with the lighting dp. Hope your successful with the breeding Wayland