Grow Your Own Magazine

Hello,
Out of our three aracana's 1 never lays , 1 lays now and again & 1 lays nearly every day . Could anybody offer any advice as to why they are so hit and miss , there daily routine is always the same and they have a free run of the garden but don't eat as much layers pellets now its getting warmer as there are alot more bugs and things about.

Cheers
p54jes.

Wow - you are having a few problems with them aren't you!

If I remember correctly they should now be around 10-11 months old, mine - as around 13 months - lays around 4-5 eggs a week.

It should be noted that pure breeds such as these are far more variable in their laying than a hybrid and it will depend to a large extent on the strain of Araucana you have. If they are a show strain their egg laying potential will be lower that if they are a utility strain.

The one that never lays - are you sure? Given all three will be laying nearly identical eggs it may be hard to tell. I don't know how long you have been keeping hens, but I got my Araucana very 'early' in my hen keeping history and got suckered. I was told the bird was around 4 months old and at POL when in fact it was probably more like 12 weeks and as we both know Araucanas are very late to mature at around 9-10 months.

So the upshot of that is - bide your time, it could just be she is a late developer.

As to the one that only lays occasionally - I would suggest a show strain bird with poor egg capacity - lovely to look at but not quite what you were after.

Hindsight is, as always, a perfect science and perhaps more questions should have been asked at purchase. The breeding history, average laying of the parent hen, show stock reject or utility strain...... I know I'm guilty of not asking any of the above.

On a sour note if you got the girls so they could produce a good dozen eggs a week for you I'm afraid it isn't likely to happen. On the plus side you will never be inundated!

Sorry not to have all the answers.

Terry

__________________
The weeks and the years are fine. It's the days I can't cope with!

Just found a clutch of eggs hidden in part of the garden ,8 in all just the number of days that I thought she had stopped laying for. thanks for the advice obviously I need to be a bit more observant. Still have one of my girls that hasn't laid any yet though.
Cheers
P54jes