4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[blackgold]

We had our chickens delivered 6 weeks ago tomorrow. The omlet delivery man said they should lay in 4 to six weeks but still nothing. Only 2 of the hens have big red combs... At the omlet course i attended last sunday i was told that the hens will not lay until they are 26 weeks.... We were told our hens were only 17 weeks when we got them so does that mean we still have another 2 weeks to go? So why did the omlet delivery man tell us 4 to 6 weeks? I am disappointed with the misinformation though i realize that the hens are not machines but feel we should have either been supplied with older hens or warned that it might take 2 months......or longer even....

[ruth1]

It really depends on the chicken I have come to find. A pullet is clased as POL from 18 weeks so can lay anytime from then, but around 21 weeks and beyond seems to be the average of when they start laying.

Bear in mind that the nights are closing in and the lack of daylight affects egg laying and most hens drop or stop production for the winter depending on breed.

Most of my girls are around 28weeks now and havent started laying yet and Im not sure if they will now till next spring.

Check your feeding the right food and worm them if you think they havent been done, limit treats like corn and wait.

 

Someone who knows more than me will be along soon

[eggypeggy]

Well, I picked up my two new chooks on the 9th Sept.. they were about 15 weeks then so .. they must be about 22 weeks old now.

 

We just got our 1st egg of the skyline this week and she was the one they said would take a little while longer to lay. The silvernik isn't even showing signs of laying yet and she was due to start at around 18-20 weeks. She's not crouching, her comb is very small.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is they are so individual, that it just happens when it happens. I get totally impatient waiting for a new chook to start laying ... around 18 weeks I start checking the nest box a couple of times a day desperate to see that 1st egg.

 

Good luck... I'm sure they'll start soon.. and when they do get round to it, you'll forget you ever had to wait!

[earthmam1]

Hi blackgold

 

We had our eglu and girls since middle september. Our girls were about 16/17 weeks when they arrived and one has just started laying now . I have had 4 eggs so far from one and none from the other, I think you just have to wait until they are ready. The egg from today was a double yolker so I am off to be a lottery ticket .

[blackgold]

Have tried to work out how to pictures up to see if anybody thinks our chickens combs are still tooo small but if you click on my collietalk link there are pictures on there.

[laurmurf]

Hi all,

we got 6 girls at the end of August, they were all the same age. One of the girls laid her first egg a week later and the last of the girls to start to lay produced her first egg yesterday - so 2 months between them. I think it's a bit like teenagers and puberty, my Meg was one of those girls wearing lipstick in year 6 and darling Pip clearly was a year 10 nerdy girl!

[mostin]

I agree with laurmauf, each chich is different and you may just have a couple of "late developers". The shorter days at the moment are having a massive effect on egg production. My Dolly strted blushing and 2 months ago and crouching a month ago but no sign of eggs yet. She may cross her legs til the spring or until after the winter solstice at this rate .

 

Because of the dark days I would add 4 weeks on to your expected time and then see how they are doing. I know it feels forever, but once they start you forget you ever waited .

[blackgold]

Thanks to everybody for the mails. I guess we will have to wait. The girls have grown a lot and I have a pictural study of them. I think they were a lot younger than 17 weeks when supplied. We piad for Omlet chickens to get the best to start off with and were disappointed that we did not get eggs within the 6 weeks as we were told at the time of delivery.

[Redwing]

Mine were all bought as POL but are still worlds apart in the development stakes so even though they are the right age officially I still am not expecting any eggs from at least one of them for weeks or even months.

 

I know its disapointing but the way to think about it is that if you had bought your hens from elsewhere or had bought older hens that you wouldnt have ended up with the same ones and their special characters

[RubyReckless]

I don't think Omlet misled you, really - the chooks are supplied POL, and typically start laying within 4 to 6 weeks. For some people that is a mere 3 days (we were very lucky with one hen!) and for others it can be 10 weeks plus (we had a lazy hen, too ).

 

Depending on demand for chooks and eglus, the birds supplied might be a week or two young, or a week or two old - better Omlet supply the eglu and chooks at 17 weeks than not deliver til they were 18 weeks, presumably!

 

The weather makes a difference - the darker and dimmer it is, the less likely they are to lay, and we did have a grim start to September as i recall - certainly our older, established chooks all slowed down dramatically.

 

The other thing Omlet stress is that they supply pet hens with free egg supplies, not an egg production system. It's frustrating waiting for the first egg, but that's not the only reason to have hens in the garden. They are ace pets, and make a garden a lively, engaging, interesting place.

 

Hope you get an egg sooner rather than later, but even if its a while yet there's still lots to enjoy with your hens.

[blackgold]

I must have missed Omlets advertising that the chickens they suppy are mainly pets and not egg production units........ I did read that they were specially bred hybrids for year round egg production also they could lay up to 360 eggs a year .......As I attended the advanced omlet course today and from examining our chooks I think we will not have too much longer to wait. I think to comply with trading standards advertising rules customers should be told that chickens can take more than 6 weeks to lay..... Accurate hatching dates would be great as well.

[Snowy]

Looking at your pictures you won't have long to wait. And when they do come into lay, you probably will get your egg a day from them. Accurate hatching dates are impossible as they are not hatched by Omlet. Most hybrids are bred abroad and shipped in in vast quantities for the commercial egg market. To get commercial levels of egg production, you will need to ensure that your birds are fed nothing but layers pellets and given artificial light through the winter. The downside of that is that they will wear out much quicker.

[blackgold]

I didnt realize they were imported on such a commertial scale. Ours when delivered were quite tame and seemed to know how to live in an eglu cube.They were kept in for 5 days but even on the first night went up the ladder and put themselves to bed..The 2 faverolles we added had to be picked up and placed in the roost for the first couple of nights and helped down in the morning..... I will definately not be lighting artifitially and when we get our first egg will be shouting from the rooftops......

[Snowy]

I didnt realize they were imported on such a commertial scale. Ours when delivered were quite tame and seemed to know how to live in an eglu cube.They were kept in for 5 days but even on the first night went up the ladder and put themselves to bed..The 2 faverolles we added had to be picked up and placed in the roost for the first couple of nights and helped down in the morning..... I will definately not be lighting artifitially and when we get our first egg will be shouting from the rooftops......

Mine were like that - appeared quite tame. I wonder if it is because they are only used to a shed environment and lots of other chooks so are a bit dazed, whereas your faverolles had a more free range upbringing and behaved more 'normally'. Just a guess! Must admit I'd love to know more about where they come from and how they are bred

[chickweed]

My Omlet gingernuts were delivered mid July last year. One of them did not lay until the end of the following January. I calculated that she was approx 48 weeks old!

 

I am of the opinion that she is a fair weather egg layer as she stopped laying a month ago.

[helenmb]

Hi blackgold

 

I think it is the hand of the gods as to when they lay. I have had some new girls for about 6 weeks now and was told that my Bluebelle would probably be the last to lay - she was the first (at 21 weeks) and is regular as clockwork from day one. My Amber Star only lays very occasionally and often have a softie from her and so far no sign of anything from my Silver Sussex.

 

Its well worth the wait and just think of all the fun you have had watching them and enjoying their personalities and antics, better than any TV programme in MHO.

 

To make sure that they get the most out of our ever shortening days make sure that they can catch some winter sun where they live as this will also hasten things along. Fingers crossed for eggies for you soon.

[blackgold]

they are free range in the day so can go in the sun when there is any. They dont like too much rain and go back into shelter. Think the roost door will have to be closed tonight as it is freezing here in cheshire....