Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[l_ouise]

Hello.

 

I bought three hybrid chickens about 4/5 weeks ago.

 

One was supposed to definately lay white.

 

One was supposed to possibly lay blue.

 

One was supposed to possibly lay dark brown.

 

The white ones are coming out pale nude with some white grainy speckles.

 

The blues ones are coming out green.

 

The dark brown ones aren't coming out at all!

 

I don't mind the green ones, they are still fun and HUGE 80g eggs, but the "white" ones and the lack of dark brown ones are what i'd like some help with.

 

Will the whiteness of the eggs develop over time? Is she maybe deficient in something she needs? Or is what i'm getting pretty much it?

 

How long would you expect to have to wait for a POL to start laying? Has anyone ever bought a hen that never laid at all? How long should i wait before phoning them to complain?

 

Thanks

[Ain't Nobody Here]

It's a shame you're not getting the colours you expected but sadly, them's the breaks with hens . You sometimes get a change in the tint of a colour but not normally an actual colour change.

 

What age are they? There can be a huge range in the ages a hen will start to lay so I wouldn't worry just yet.

[WitchHazel]

Hi, looking at the pics of your Girls, I'm assuming that you are expecting white eggs from the middle one, "Shirley"? I;m guessing you are expecting her to be a White Star/White Ranger (often described as a "little ballerina")?

 

If so, then I think you've probably got an Amber Star instead (probably one with very few amber markings).

 

The White Star/White Ranger has a very. very big comb which flops over on one side, and an incredibly erect tail - looked at from the side, they are very U shaped.

 

The Amber Star (also sold under different registered names) has a more standard tail, and lays brown/pale brown eggs. They are (usually) very sweet natured and very docile.

 

Both birds are prolific and reliable layers, I have one of each.

 

EDITED TO ADD: I've just realised that you have put the egg colours on the pics, sorry, I didn't see those before I asked whether it was Shirley!

[Redwing]

Chickens are like people they mature at different rates (if my husband was a hen he'd never lay an egg )

 

I dont think its a matter of phoning to complain but just waiting patiently. The hen will lay in her own time

 

POL is a term used to describe a bird over a certain age. In reality they could be a couple of months off laying

 

Some hens just dont lay the colour eggs expected - this is more common in hybrids than in pure breeds and is just one of those things.

 

No hybrid can ever be sold as guaranteed as laying blue eggs, the hen you have has a 80% chance of laying blue OR green eggs and a 20% chance of cream ones but many sellers gloss over that fact

[l_ouise]

Sorry for the delay - thanks for the responses.

 

Shirley is a White Star and has no amber or anything on her. Maybe i am expecting the white to be too white? They are very pale but not as crisp white as photos on the internet like this.

 

They are more like this

 

Pepsi, the one that isn't laying, was 17 weeks at the earliest although i'm sure she was advertised as 19 week and so she is now coming upto 23 weeks at least.

[WitchHazel]

 

Shirley is a White Star and has no amber or anything on her. Maybe i am expecting the white to be too white? They are very pale but not as crisp white as photos on the internet like this.

 

They are more like this

 

.

 

White Stars lay very white eggs, china white. Honestly, she looks like an Amber Star to me (mine doesn't have any amber markings to speak of either). Her comb doesn't look like a White Star's com. They are HUGE combs and flop to one side.

[l_ouise]

Thanks for the response.

 

Nah, i've looked at pics on the internet of white stars and amber stars that don't look how you decribe them.

 

I can't find a pic of a white star with a flopping comb and the amber stars have hardly any comb at all.

 

She was at her youngest in that pic so maybe that is what has thrown you.

 

Thanks

[WitchHazel]

Hello again

 

You're probably right, although most of the pics I've seen are of very young ones long before they come into lay (hence small combs).

 

Your Shirley looks very much like my Daisy. Here are my two girls at 18 mnths old so you can see why I thought yours was an Amber Star (Lily, myWhite Star/Ranger, is in the foreground; Daisy, Amber Star, in the background; both grubby from dustbathing):

[Snowy]

Shirley may be a coral nick, they look similar to the whitestar, but lay a cream egg. I was sold a coral as a whitestar, hard to tell the difference initally - not quite as upright as the whitestar, but not as chunky as the amber. But she does have red ears, and it looks like your Shirley may have red ears too. A whitestar is basically a white leghorn and should have clear white ear lobes.