Re: no eggs

Jill wrote:
dghealy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

What brown egg layer would you recommend for the New England climate?

It is ALWAYS best to ask those around you.
Do you have Farmers markets in your area?
If so you can bet that anyone producing eggs for them are using pretty economical layers which do well in their area - they have to be to make even a small business viable.
That means they survive your local climate, they do not eat anywhere NEAR as much as your fancy pure breeds, and they lay much more of the year around.
The chances are they may well sell you a few older birds if they have not got rid of them, or even a few young birds which will be laying.
Even if they don't you will know what works well in your place.

There will be lots of suggestions flying around, but only those who live in your area are really in a place to advise.

If you are starting from day olds shipped in from one of the major hatcheries or a known production breeder, then experience from others around the States is valid.

Red stars or Black stars are the best for cold weather climates..they lay an egg a day consistently for the first year then taper off some the second year. They are common looking, and when they taper off you can make soup out of them as they aren't a very meaty bird. On the upside, they convert feed to eggs at a better rate than most of the other breeds.

As for your birds going off lay, try lighting their coop for several extra hours a day, and you need it to be well lit to fool the birds into continuing to lay.. It's the lack of daylight that signals them to shut down.
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