alih Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 just wondering at what age chooks do their first moult and how often they do it? Do they stop laying while they moult and how long does the process take? I know you guys will have answers to all the above so thanks in anticipation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 My girls have always gone into a moult in the Autumn, whatever age. So my new youngsters last year went into moult time before they had actually started laying! They do stop laying during the moult, although my experience has been that the time they stop for varys from hen to hen - and seemed with Georgie to be a longer time as she got older. They are a bit low during the moult - and they often look pretty rough. I think that the time not laying gives them a bit of a break during quite a stressful time for their bodies. I give my girls some spice and extra food during the moult, although I don't know if that is what you are supposed to do. I always feel sorry for them; they lose feathers, especially around the neck, and their body language show them to be rather down. But then when they perk up its really great to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I'm just making this up as I go along (trying to remember from reading posts ) so will probably be corrected but I think they only have "mini moults" in their first year. Not sure about frequency after that - once a year? Yes, I think they do stop laying but don't know how long for (depends on each chicken perhaps?) Not much help, was I . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 ok thanks you guys - mine aren't very old and have only just started laying so didn;t want to be taken by surprise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Looking at my egg chart (yes, I know, I'm sad ...) eggs tailed off in Oct from Georgie; the young girls weren't laying at all then as they were too young. Georgie was down to three a week by the beginning of Oct and eggs stopped completely for the week beginning Oct 15th then the young girls started laying week beginning Nov 26th, I had 9 in the week beginning 10th Dec, 13 for the week beginning 17th Dec and 20 for the week beginning on Xmas Eve. Georgie started again in the week beginning 7th january, and I now have all of them laying. I got 23 eggs last week, 29 the week before that, and 31 this week. However Georgie is now no longer so I am down to 7 hens; and the pure breeds don't lay as well as Georgie used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Mine started to moult at the end of Oct and have been back in full feather and have been laying for about a fortnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 an egg chart! Now there's an idea! I read about Georgie on another link - what a sad tale - but everyone has such different stories about laying, moulting etc...I get really confused! Just hope that my chooks don;t start moulting yet as only one of them has just started laying! Must sort out a chart for our 2 - v. excited at this prospect! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 an egg chart! Now there's an idea! Funny you should say that . There is such a thing .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 an egg chart! Now there's an idea! Funny you should say that . There is such a thing .... Mine isn't very impressive; its an excel spreadsheet. I have number of hens, number of eggs per week. It works out eggs per week per hen and graphs it up for me - shows the trends. I've only been doing it since the middle of last year, but hopefully it will show how their laying varies through the year and I may be able to predict egg numbers ..... But hens being intrinsicly unreliable and contrary, I probably won't be able to predict anything at all ,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I've adapted Starboyhull's Egg Tally excel spreadsheet (he hasn't been on here for ages & his one only had a few months in it). I'm trying to be too clever, having month totals, running totals on top of weights of eggs every day, but I'm getting bogged down with my formulae . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 my goodness you guys are organised. I have a fairly basic notion of a chart - ie my family's calendar ( we have 4 kids) which is, sadly I know, colour coded for each kid school hols etc...so have just added a dot for an egg, different colour for each chicken...not quite an excel spreadsheet and think I shall keep quiet on that front or my partner will embrace the idea far too fully and I will never see him again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 Richard have looked at your pics and your hens are beautiful - what sort are they grey speckledy one and the creamy one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Richard have looked at your pics and your hens are beautiful - what sort are they grey speckledy one and the creamy one? thanks very much. The big ones are Orpingtons - they are the white. light grey with black bits. I have a blue Orp as well. The cuckoo ones, speckledy and dapper, are a Maran and a North Holland. I must put some up to date pictures up as they have grown up a lot now and are much bigger and smarter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 yes do! the speckledy blue ish ones are gorgeous...wish my dog was quite as laid back about our chickens as yours seems to be - he would love to have a go and I fear my dreams of summer days with chooks and hound pottering peacefully in the garden will remain but dreams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I'm trying to put some photos up but getting an error saying the number of electrons has been exceded, or the wires are too small or something. the files are only about 16k small now I've shrunk them to next to nothing, so I just don't know what the problem is. I'll have another go later when the person guarding the Omlet gallery might be asleep or distracted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Actually what it says is; Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 83886081 bytes) in /home/omletuk/public_html/gallery/modules/exif/lib/exifer/makers/olympus.inc on line 155 I think its computer speak for 'go away Richard and stop bothering me'. the file size is 37.4 KB 'cos I've shrunk it down to web page size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 ok, looking forward to it - I have no idea how to getpictures onto this site so am busy enjoying other people's. very taken with the grey speckles - food for thought for the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...