Pekin laying problems

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My girlfriend very kindly treated me to a trio of pekins a few weeks ago and Im over the moon with my new little friends. However, having only kept hens as a kid Im not as genned up on them as I would like......so, the first of Im sure what will be many questions posted on here from me!........
The birds, (a Lavendar Cuckoo cock and hen and a straight lavendar hen) bought from Melton Mowbray market afew weeks ago have now settled into their new home and are very happy friendly little things. We where told that they where hatched last year and the hens are in lay. Sure enough the day after the sale, they came home to a temporary coup and and the following morning there was an egg in the nest box. we have continued to get an egg avery two days, then this week I got the first egg of the week today, (thats the first in 7 days!!) The only thing that has changed is I louse powdered the coup when cleaning it last weekend, so could this have upset them???
Also, howmany eggs should I reasonably be expecting and subject to that number being paltry, (sorry for the pun :oops: ) how is it best to introduce new birds to the flock?

Thanks, in anticipation.

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

Welcome to the wonderful hobby of keeping chickens and to our little forum.

Firstly, different breeds lay different numbers of eggs as do different strains of birds within the breed - basically, you can breed for good layers (good laying strains are called utility birds) but most breeders breed for looks to show their birds and often this can be at the expense of egg numbers or people just breed their birds however to get more birds to sell. There's an FAQ here called How many eggs will my chickens lay? you may want to read.

Secondly, I really doubt the louse powder has upset them. Mites / Lice will decrease your egg numbers for sure so keep a watchfull eye out. You're doing the right thing with your louse powder by the sounds of things.

Sometimes chickens take a break from laying and strains that lay few eggs often go broody and then might not come back into lay again. Spring and early summer is when chickens should be laying the most eggs. It's certainly worth making sure she wasn't laying somewhere else too..

If you want a good egg layer, it's best to buy a hybrid that lays lots of eggs each year to keep as well as your pure breeds who (in general) don't produce as many eggs.

Finally, introducing new birds is almost always unpleasant. There's an article on introducing chickens on the main site too.

Have fun and thanks for joining us - this forum is very new but there's already some really great people on here.

Tim
 
Thanks for that Tim, much appreciated. I will sit myself down later and read those two link articles. I am going to Melton market next weekend, so subject to what I learn from the articles, hopefully I will buy some additional little people to suppliment the flock.
The forum is great a real good source of info and support and very friendly with it, so congrats to everyone for making it so.
I will keep you updated on the progress of my little clan and doubtles be back with many more questions!!
Thanks again, have a good weekend.
Matt
 
Hi Matt,

There are several sorts of hybrids commonly sold by breeders. For example - have a look at Cambridge Poultry who have a good selection and some handy photos and description of egg laying capabilities.

Goldline are the sort used in commercial production - and they will lay 300 or so eggs in the first year.

Have fun!

Tim
 
IIRC Pekins lay about 60-80 a year, seasonally. They don't lay in autumn and winter much, if at all.

I always keep new chooks in quarantine for a while till I am sure all is well. Then I tend to wait till its dark and pop them in the hen house with the others.

If you are mixing large hens with Pekins I'd be wary of doing this. Pekins can be fiesty, and if you have a cock bird then in the early morning I am sure he'll be trying to sort out the ladies :lol: :roll: . I tend to not mix mine in the hen house, bantams in one, large chooks in another. Free ranging outside they mix of course.
 
Cheers for that. I was assuming that mixing large hens in with the pekins may not be ideal and as they will be more confined than free range I dont want to encourage them, or me problems.
At the moment they have the coup, which is about 1200mm by 450mm by 600mmtall. this is set into an enclosed run,(1200mm by 1500mm by 1200mm tall) which they have use of during the day, (the garden is surrounded by fields as we are right on the edge of a tiny village and foxes have taken hens from several others in the village who let theirs free range their gardens). In the evenings and weekends when we are at home and pottering round the garden they have a wired of area of about 10m by 3m which they roam round.
My plan is to alter the coup both in size and layout and permanantly fence off the top part of the garden, which will give them an area of about 10m by 18m which will be secure and prevent them wandering and predators getting in.
I prefer the pekins as Im not looking to be eating masses and masses of eggs (though more than one every 2 to three days would be preferable!! :D ) and they are very amiable comical little things which are enjoyable to keep and dont seem anywhere near as destructive as my brothers hybrid full size hens. I was thinking along the lines of another two or three hens. Lavendars, or Lavendar Cuckoos would be first choice, but I have seen some really interesting varieties of pekins and would quite like some different types, (a friend has a little white one which looks like a feathered porcupine, but I dont know what type it is)
Thatnks again.
Matt
 
The porcupine look is what we call a frizzle (at least thats what I think you mean). I used to keep a fair few of them but find them rather high maintenence and also while lovely to look at, I just didn't want to keep breeding them. I prefer the smooth feathered look.

If you did get some be aware you should not breed frizzle to frizzle. Only smooth to frizzle.

And yes, Pekins are great characters. I adore mine. I'd think your egg production will increase as they settle in. Also if you keep more you'll of course have more hens laying on alternate days etc so production will increase. Be aware when a Pekin goes broody she'll stop laying and unless you want her to sit on eggs for 3 weeks you'll need to break her of this. I'd also always make sure you keep your breeding quality birds apart from your not really breeding quality ones (if you wish to breed) so as to be sure you are getting the right eggs.

I keep more Pekins than I use to breed from and only breed from one or two trios or pairs, the rest are not used for breeding. I don't like breeding from inferior type birds and having bought in some poor quality hatching eggs in the past (when the pics of the birds were stunning, you'd at least think the birds would be decent, at least one of them anyways :? ) I stick to breeding my own or only occasionally buying from people whose birds I have actually seen (or who are vouched for by others etc).
 
Brilliant snifter, some good little gems of info there, much appreciated.
I guessing that the reason not to breed a frizzle with another frizzle is because they would frazzle :lol: :roll: and have feather problems?
From spending a while looking at pics of different types on the net Im amazed at the different colours available. I would only breed for interest, but in all honesty they are going to be pets that provide me with an interesting distraction and keep me out of trouble!! I would probably remove the eggs from beneath a broody bird, as my girlfriend would probably not be best pleased if I ended up moving from a small flock, to an army of my little feathered friends ;)
 
Yup, breeding frizzle to frizzle causes feathering to frazzle :lol:

Just a tip, a broody Pekin will probably need more than the eggs being taken away to stop being broody. Every single one of mine I don't want to sit on eggs requires at least a week (sometimes longer for teh stubborn ones) of being stuck outside and shut out of the nestboxes and henhouse. Only allowed in at night and I place them on a perch when dark rather than letting them sit in a nestbox.
 
Again, very usefull tips, thankyou. I do have vague recolections of my mother cursing a broody bantam we had as kids, when she used to go to collect the eggs every day and this bantam would put up a fight to hang onto the latest clutch it had managed to claim!! :lol:
Are all pekins of similar temperament to each other, or are some types more/less friendly.? I know that it will vary from bird to bird, but Im really pleased at how friendly and chatty my lavendars are, infact the cockeral is the friendliest of all and loves it when he comes over to see me and I make a fuss of him.
Also any tips or opinions on coop/nest box /perch sizes/numbers? I am planning to get an additional 2/3 hens, which would bring my miniature flock to 5 hens and one cockeral.
Thanks again,
Matt
 
reno said:
Are all pekins of similar temperament to each other, or are some types more/less friendly.? I know that it will vary from bird to bird, but Im really pleased at how friendly and chatty my lavendars are, infact the cockeral is the friendliest of all and loves it when he comes over to see me and I make a fuss of him.
Also any tips or opinions on coop/nest box /perch sizes/numbers? I am planning to get an additional 2/3 hens, which would bring my miniature flock to 5 hens and one cockeral.
Thanks again,
Matt
Click to expand...

They are all very different personalities for sure.

Perhc sizes is smaller for bantams than large chooks. Too big isn't good for their feet. I forget the rough mesurement but I'm sure you can see what fits your banties feet and then sand down round the sides so its curved a bit.

I'd only have a couple of nest boxes for 5/6. Decent sized bantam house would do you fine then. If you buy a purpose built one it should have the corrct size perches etc.
 
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