does anyone know why my 9 month old aracaunas arent laying?when i got them the man said they were laying and we got one egg about a month after we had them. that was it. we have had them for 4 months.they are banties. their vents are moist and pink,but nothing.they have a light in the house so they get plenty of light. any ideas??

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), November 29, 2001

Answers

do not leave the light on all the time

they need natural light simulation. daylight. dark.

put your light on a timer. On at 6:00 AM. Off at 9:00 PM. or something similar

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.

It's winter. They will lay again in the spring. Egg laying in the cold months is sporadic, especially when they weren't already laying regularly. Put The Poultry Connection into your search engine and you will find a great message board with experts.

-- Jill (lance1_86404@yahoo.com), November 29, 2001.

My Auracanas have never laid like the Golden Comets do....the Auracanas are still laying three eggs every other day although there are five of them....There are 20 Golden Comets and I'm still getting from 18 to 22 eggs each day....

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), November 29, 2001.

I have always had aracanas (americanas) that stop laying during the winter time. They usually start laying again when Spring comes. If you want chickens to lay throughout the winter, I suggest you get some Barred Rocks, Black Australorps or Rhode Island Reds... Those are the 3 that consisently (sp?) lay for me. We had a tree fall on the wire that was supplying light in the coop and have not got around to fixing it. Well, I am getting about 6 eggs a day rather than 12 to 16 a day. I am downsizing on my flock and will stick with the barred rocks and australorps. Just my 2 cents! :)

-- Debra (olallacreek@myfarm.net), November 29, 2001.