carolyn
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No EggsHi,
Can anybody help. I've had 6 pol warrens back in March who have been laying well. Also bought 4 other pol a few months later. Now only getting between 1 - 4 eggs per day. Somebody has mentioned that the hens will lay for so long then stop for so many weeks and when they start again the eggs will be much bigger, is this right or just an old wives tale, just seems strange that the warrens all stopped at the same time. (No red mites) (Also two welsummers broody! how long does that last). Help please 
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Chez
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Hi Carolyn - are they moulting? If they've been laying since the spring then they might be ready for a break. They'll be less red in the comb and you'll have more feathers around in the hen-house and run. Your other POLs should still be going strong though.
Re broodiness - it might be that they go on for months if left naturally. Can you keep turfing them out of the nest-box every couple of hours for a few days? Or move them somewhere else for a bit where they won't have access to a nest box? The 'traditional' way to 'break' a broody is to put her in a cage with a wire bottom, so that her underneath gets a draught and there's nowhere for her to settle comfortably - but you'll probably find that they'll go off if you disturb them sufficiently on a regular basis for a few days.
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carolyn
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Thanks for help Chez, will do. Any truth about stopping laying and then bigger eggs? (our eggs are quite a bit smaller than the normal run of the mill eggs - but tasty all the same)
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ksia
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Could they be laying elsewhere?
Ours have free run. Recently, egg numbers have gone down so I thought they might be laying elsewhere. I poked under the bushes they like without finding anything so shrugged and decided it was down to their new room mates (2 ducks).
Anyway, today we found a stash of 18 eggs in one of the barns..!
Guess this is an argument for keeping them within a certain area.
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carolyn
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No these are confined to a certain area and I've been hunting high and low
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RichardW
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| carolyn wrote: | | Any truth about stopping laying and then bigger eggs? (our eggs are quite a bit smaller than the normal run of the mill eggs - but tasty all the same) |
Yes pullet eggs tend to be smaller, they get bigger with age but you get fewer eggs.
Richard
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Calli
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Warren eggs are decent sized and they do produce on a very regular basis - every 25 hours is the norm/best 
If they are moulting you could feed growers or game pellets to up the protein levels which helps regrowth of the feathers?
As for the broodies - stop them as soon as. They do lose condition as they maintain a higher body temperature - Chz advice about the raised wire cage is spot on. They can't sit and raise their core temperature.
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Chez
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| Calli wrote: | | If they are moulting you could feed growers or game pellets to up the protein levels which helps regrowth of the feathers? |
Does that push them, Calli, or just help their condition generally? Last year I lit them from November and they came back in to lay faster. No-one has moulted so far, but we did have a bit of a drop-off of production in the early summer, presumably because they'd been in lay longer than they would have been naturally.
I'm waiting for them to all go off in the next few weeks and trying to decide whether to get them going with lights again or wait for it to happen naturally.
My two / two and a half year old girls lay lovely big eggs - definitely bigger than the yearlings. On the other hand, we have two light sussex pullets that have just come in to lay this week and they are laying the most beautiful tiny little things - I keep feeding them to Leo for his tea  .
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Calli
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I feed it when they go off not before. Yes I think it does help - it takes a lot out of them regenerating the feathers. I am not at all sure that it encourages a return to lay. More as an aid to the feathers.
But I understand where you are coming from
I have three year old warrens still laying, but not as well as the pure breeds
Go for longevity!!!
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