How Old Are Chickens When They Start Laying Eggs?

I’ll never forget the first time I thought my hen, Coco, laid her first egg I was so excited I told the whole internet about it… only to find out someone had slipped a fake egg into my coop! It didn’t crack the next morning, and I was crushed Two days later, Coco really did lay her first egg, and yes, I made just as big of a deal about it Not long after, the rest of my flock followed

Egg Laying Tips to Keep Up the Egg Production

If you’re looking for egg laying tips to keep your chickens laying beautiful eggs all year, you’re in the right place

 

Nutrition is Key

Feeding a quality food and snacks is the first place to start when it comes to egg production Chickens need to start from day one on a high quality, high protein feed to prevent long term problems One they reach 16-20 weeks old, you can switch them to a lower protein feed Certain snacks are also useful to encourage chickens to lay eggs

Meal worms, bugs, black sunflower seeds, scratch grains, and watermelon are all snacks that can

Tips and Tricks to Get Your Chickens to Lay Eggs in Nesting Boxes

Encouraging chickens to lay in their nesting boxes is sometimes easier said than done While many chickens will naturally gravitate to their nesting boxes, sometimes they need a little encouragement to lay their eggs in the convenient boxes you give them

 

Here’s how to encourage nest box laying in your backyard flock

First, make sure you have the right number of nesting boxes The general rule of thumb on nesting boxes is three to four chickens per nesting box If you have 12 chickens, you want four nesting boxes

If you have too many nesting boxes, the chickens might start sleeping in

Raising Chicks in the Winter Part 1

Most people think of spring as the ideal time to raise chicks, but chicks are available all year from Hoover’s Hatchery There are some good reasons you might want raise chicks in the winter and this post is the first in a three-part series on the topic of winter chicks

This first post will talk about pros of winter chicks, the second post will talk about some considerations (or potential cons) of raising chicks in the winter, and the third post will talk about how to keep those peeps warm in the event of power outage

How Daylight Affects Egg-Laying

Chickens are farm superstars  They produce eggs almost daily  Some chickens have even been known to lay multiple eggs per day  They don’t require much food in order to produce those eggs, either  One thing that many chicken owners quickly realize is that some chickens tend to slow down or stop laying eggs in the winter

 

Why is that?  Keep reading to learn more about why chickens may stop laying in the winter

 

Hens and Daylight

The hen’s body and egg production is a complex cycle that is impacted by the amount of daylight