Flame had been laying every other day but laid her last egg five days ago. I was surprised that she continued laying so late into the year.
Smoke laid her last egg four days ago and has gone broody. Smoke had laid seventeen eggs in twenty five days which is pretty good going for her. Only a serial broody like Smoke would go broody this late in the year. It would not be a good time to be hatching eggs.
I am back to buying eggs for the moment. I am quite happy to have none of the girls laying though. This is because the girls are all on grower pellets not layers pellets because Shadow and Sugar are too young for layers.
I had been a bit worried about Flame and Smoke still laying while on growers. As it happens Flame always produced too much calcium and her egg shells always had lots of calcium bubbles on them. While on growers these bubbles had got less and less until her last eggs were smooth like the rest of the girls eggs.
Smoke had only been laying for three weeks between her last broody spell and now so that hasn’t been too long and her shells have been good.
For this reason I am happy for Smoke to take a break and am leaving her to be broody. I just lift her three times a day to make sure she has a short break. At dusk I let her stay in the nest box until the chicken shed door has closed. I then lift Smoke and perch her in the chicken shed.
I am not expecting any more eggs this year. I expect that Smoke and possibly Shadow and Sugar will start laying in January and then the flock will be back on layers pellets. The girls deserve a break from egg laying.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Gosh you have been lucky to have eggs up to now! xx
I have totally been lucky to have eggs this late in the year. I would have been happy not to have eggs as I worried about all the girls having to be on growers because of the chicks but of course the girls do what they are going to to do. I am happy that we have reached the best compromise and I did what was needed and it all works out in the end. I am happy that the flock are healthy and I am happy for them to take a well earned break for now. We will have a last breakfast this weekend with the girls eggs. Well done girls! xx
We are not getting any eggs from our neighbours girls. Time for a rest.
Definitely time for a break. I have been surprised to still be getting a few eggs until recently. It was five days ago that we had the last egg from Smoke so definitely finished until spring now.
It certainly does them good to have a proper break. I was wrong about Sprinkles – she did take a break, but only for a week, and hasn’t yet moulted, which is a concern; we now have 3 laying, every other day, and it’s amazing how the eggs accumulate. One is Butterscotch, so there’s a guaranteed broody in December!
Even when just two girls were laying the eggs accumulated enough for weekend breakfast but I am glad they are taking a break. We can rely on our serial broody girls to go broody even in the middle of winter!