Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 I've had my girls a month now and still no eggs They are freeranging all day around a very large garden (our house is roughly in the middle of a 1/2 acre plot - they have the whole back garden to roam). 2 of them have lovely red combs, 2 of them crouch when you go to stroke them. Should I search the whole garden for eggs? Or keep biding my time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 they are probably not ready yet. look for suspisious chickeny typed places that they would lay in e.g under shrubs, in long grass. next time you let them out watch them for a bit see where they go. good luck. P.S how old are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harveypup Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 How long have they been crouching? It generally takes about a week to ten days from when they start to their first egg. It is possible they have found another spot to lay,if your garden is so large I would be tempted to leave them in the run (with some corn on the cob or something) for a morning and see if they lay then. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Thanks, I'm not sure just how old they are, I wasn't paying enough attention when I bought them but I think they were between 15 and 20 weeks. I will try and persuade Mum to let me leave them in the run for a morning, she absolutely hates caged animals and will not have it that they can be happy in the run. I'm having trouble with her never putting them away when she goes out during the day either as she is convinced that we wouldn't hear them if they were in trouble even if we were home. In the long run I will be building them a large run area which should keep her happy but I expect she will still want them freeranging most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Just bide your time a little. My Omlet chickens were delivered (and were approx 18 wks old) but I think in fact they were all different ages. You can see from my signature below they all started laying at different times. My 4th Amber Star chicken was sold to me as "point of lay" and the agent said she was 14 weeks old. So I'm not expecting anything from her for a while. Crouching is a good sign but my Miss Pepperpot did it for ages (or what seemed like ages) before she started to lay. All my 3 are good girls and although the free range a lot, they always lay eggs in the eglu (so far anyway....) Have a look at http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTee Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 I think that it is just that they are all individuals. One of our Gingernuts has been crouching for 10 days and hasn't laid yet but the Snow White just runs and runs and runs but has laid every day since she began 6 days ago. Just keep an eye on them as has been suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Sounds as if they are about to lay. I would have a bit of a poke round the garden for hidden clutches of eggs , but I'm sure they will lay in the nest. Try to persuade your Mum that it is a bad idea to leave the hens out when there is no one to watch them. Perhaps if she reads the threads started by Omleteers who have lost hens to the fox she might be persuaded. If the hens are yours, than I think you must in the nicest possible way, insist firmly but gently that they are looked after according to your wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
