HENS LAYING EGGS

[THE FIFER]

when u have hens which you only want one round of youngsters from, do u keep them paired, 1/ let them sit dummy eggs then lay again, 2/keep taking eggs away, is it harmful to let birds keep laying eggs throughout the breeding season, this would be racers on natural, also what u do with stock birds when u have all the youngsters u want from them, the main question is is it good tolet hens lay too much,

[carl]

fifer i will slip then dummy eggs as this delays them laying quickly,,i think this is the best way

[THE FIFER]

fifer i will slip then dummy eggs as this delays them laying quickly,,i think this is the best way

 

yes but how many times during the year, do u do so,

 

 

[carl]

Stock...Once i have the youngsters i need and have nowwhere to split them up,i will leave them sitting dummy eggs till they leave them and go down again.i will do this till its time to split them all off.Its the only way when you dont have much room

[Guest Hjaltland]

I'm interested in this topic from another angle:

 

How many eggs does a hen have (in her) to lay in her life time?

 

So... you've put this hen to stock, she performed well as a yb, yearling and won more than one good race as a 2 and 3 y'old, she's already off a good line, you put her to stock as a 3 or 4 year old... how many eggs has she left? if she's any good every egg might hold a potential good 'un?  

 

Sorry if i've introduced another thread but it's related to this thought.

[THE FIFER]

yes i am like u, but often wonder if it does them any harm, going on soft food etc , often wonder taking themaway say 10 days, to combat the soft food bit but then again increasing the amount of eggs layd during the year.

[Guest]

I don't think it does them any harm sitting a cycle after all they effectively get at least a 30day period for the body to rest before laying another clutch. It's not like they are battery hens or anything so I don't think health wise it makes much difference.

 

I am however with the train of thought that if you want to preserve a hens breeding life cycle for years to come, I think she needs to lay the least ammount of rounds per year. The more you waste every year I am sure detracts from the ammount of years she will go on breeding.

 

I think anyway.

 

If it were me and I didn't have much room, I would build a little 4 ft aviary or something on the end of the stock loft for the hens if I could to split them or put them in a small area in a garage or something just till you could put them in the youngbird section at the end of the season.

 

Or if they are ex racers fly them out with the youngsters.

 

Failing that cut down on numbers of birds kept by doubling them up as widowhood hens for the racing season.

 

 

[Guest TAMMY_1]

 

I SPLIT THE STOCK BIRDS AS SOON AS I HAVE WHAT I NEED ,THE RACERS ARE A DIFERENT MATTER, FLY NATURAL SO THEY HAVE TO BE SITTING ON SOMETHING AND THE SEASON IS ONLY REALLY LONG ENEOUGH FOR THEM TO SIT ON ABOUT THREE ROUNDS, OR SO,  I LET THEM SIT AND REAR THE FIRST PAIR AND AFTER THAT THEY SIT ON THEM TILL THEY HATCH THE SECOND ROUND AND THEN I LET THEM REAR ONE YOUNGSTER FOR ABOUT 8 DAYS TILL THE MILK IS AWAY AND THEN THEY ARE LEFT TO LAY AGAIN AND DO THE SAME AGAIN  AND THIS TIME CERTAIN PAIRS ARE ALLOWED TO RAISE ONE TO SUIT THE COCKS IN LONGER RACES AND COMING TO A LARGE YOUNGSTER

[Guest]

build ya cell an aviary and as soon as you have the amount of young birds you want then split them up for the year that way you will get longer out of your stock birds untill you find the golden egg layer .

[THE FIFER]

that was the thing i was wodering about darren shortning their breeding life,

[Guest TAMMY_1]

that was the thing i was wodering about darren shortning their breeding life,

 

  would it not be the hen itself that determines the end of its breeding life, dont think i have ever seen anywhere that somebody has stated the actual amount of eggs a pigeon will lay in its lifetime, or has there been ?

[madmaxlofts]

i let my widdowhood team go down once or they start casting flights to early

my stock it doesnt matter i dont think as long as you dont pagger them to much

[Guest shadow]

When finished breeding in my stock loft I take the hens away into an aviary and discourage them from laying

[Tony C]

 

  would it not be the hen itself that determines the end of its breeding life, dont think i have ever seen anywhere that somebody has stated the actual amount of eggs a pigeon will lay in its lifetime, or has there been ?

 

I do remember reading that the amount of eggs a hen can lay throughout her life is predetermined. Once the hen has used up all her ovums she may carry on laying but these eggs can never be filled.

[Guest]

as long as a hen lays eggs and the cock bird does his duty they should all be fill ,neva heard of that afore that eggs canny be filled if so then it must be the cock burd

[THE FIFER]

as long as a hen lays eggs and the cock bird does his duty they should all be fill ,neva heard of that afore that eggs canny be filled if so then it must be the cock burd

 

 

i would tend to agree on that one

 

 

 

[birdman55678]

The hens only have a certain amount of eggs, as long as the hen is still laying the eggs are ok, if not fertile then the cock is at fault.  Hens that have only 3 rounds per year and less taken from them will sometimes last until the 14th or 15 year.  I would suggest always seperating sexes and the hens will sometimes mate up and lay 4 eggs per nest, let em sit them it won't hurt, but if they continue to leave the eggs and lay more than let them sit wooden eggs.  Good luck.  Ed