Poorly chicken

[Luvachicken]

Clever little Nellie laid her first egg yesterday 

I thought she might lay soon because she crouched the other day.

She was also very busy going in and out of the house yesterday.

I always find it so amazing that they know an egg is coming and then know where to lay it as well.

I have totally forgotten what to do next, it's a while since I last had chicks - they are all still on growers pellets.

Do I leave them on those for now until they are all laying ?

I'm sure I read before that they don't need layers pellets until they are laying but what about Nellie ?

[Cat tails]

Wow! That’s fast! Mine are nowhere near laying yet!

I actually removed the growers from the run, last week. And my garden pigeon is over the moon, because he can finish the bag. 😂

[Beantree]

We've always switched from rearers over to layers when the first one lays. You could always mix it in gradually if you have a lot of rearers left. The problem we first had was the size of the layers pellets which were far too large and they didn't eat them, but we found that Smallholder layers were OK.

[Luvachicken]

Thanks @Beantree

That is useful to know because Peggy does seem to prefer the smaller pellets to the bigger ones.

7 hours ago, Cat tails said:

Wow! That’s fast! Mine are nowhere near laying yet!

I actually removed the growers from the run, last week. And my garden pigeon is over the moon, because he can finish the bag. 😂

Nellie has always looked more grown up than the others so I did think she might lay first.

I have half a sack left and there is no way the pigeons round here are going to get their beaks into that.

[Cat tails]

Just now, Luvachicken said:

I have half a sack left and there is no way the pigeons round here are going to get their beaks into that.

Maybe the breeder you got them from will take the bag of your hands?

[Luvachicken]

Maybe, but she did get an extra £25 out of me in the first place so I think I will mix the feed together like @Beantree suggested

[Beantree]

They have now a good store of Calcium in their bones which will take a long time to deplete: that's where the egg shells come from. So phasing in the layers pellets is the best way to go as they can stop eating with a sudden change of feed. The layers give them plenty of Calcium to replenish that store but importantly it is balanced with phosphorous (8:1) which allows the calcium transfer mechanism to work. Perhaps people don't realise that the Calcium for the egg shells doesn't get there directly from the feed. It's a complex process that can easily go wrong as the calcium from the feed goes into the bones for storage and is then released into the egg shell system. The most important thing is not to waste the feed @Luvachicken, so yes mix it in as we have always done, without any problems (apart from pellet size).

[Luvachicken]

Nancy has joined the egg laying group.

I was quite surprised to find 2 little eggs waiting for me today

[Daphne]

Well done those little girls!  It is a real milestone when chicks start to produce, there is a tendency to come over all 'proud Mum'!  From memory, was Nellie a frizzy little chick, I can't quite remember, but did we all think she was a proper little cutie?

[Luvachicken]

Yes, @Daphne Nellie is the one that everyone liked the most and is most definitely frizzled.

I still think she looks like some fancy, frilly, chocolate cupcake dusted with cocoa powder although @Cat tails and DD said she looks like a vulture.

Cat tails did apologise to Nellie but DD hasn't  

Edited May 14, 2021 by Luvachicken