White leghorn egg laying questions

[Amylia]

Thank you, that's great information about deworming! Where can I purchase the dewormer medication?

 

[yellowchicks]

Thank you, that's great information about deworming! Where can I purchase the dewormer medication?

I got Valbazen via mail order, buy the smallest bottle possible, you don't need much for such few chickens. People also alternate with Safegurad liquid, same dosage. Search around on the BYC forum for more details and discussions.

 

[Amylia]

Thank you! Does it matter what age I start deworming? Is there a such thing as too young?

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

Thank you! Does it matter what age I start deworming? Is there a such thing as too young?

I always hatch in the spring, then deworm the following fall when they have reached adult weight. I also use Valbazen for the first deworming, then a rotation of Safeguard and Valbazen every six months.

 

[Bill Matthews]

Your leghorns appear to be considerably less than 16 weeks old.....I do know of a flock of different breeds from Murray McMurray that started laying even earlier than 16 weeks, and they weren't even leghorns.......Also, on the deworming.....I've been around chickens for 73 years.......Unless you have cause to think you have a worm problem, stay away from dewormers.....If you give them to laying hens, they'll quit, and there is no sane reason to give healthy growing young chickens any medication......There may be natural products that are ok......I don't have all the answers but chickens are really tough creatures and do just fine if fed, watered, protected and physically respected(not abused).....White Leghorns are very beautiful chickens and will lay a ton of eggs.......You seem to be a really nice person, so best of luck...

 

[Spartan22]

At what age do leghorn hens start laying? What should I notice when they are getting close to time to start laying? There's plenty of daylight now and the temperature has been warm since late March. I'm just waiting for them to get old enough to lay and want to know in advance what signs show when they will start to lay. Thanks in advance!

I like my 3 wht leghorns, they were barely 17 1/2 wks when I started getting eggs from them last August. They haven't slow down a bit even on winter time I get 3 eggs a day only skipped once or twice and its May now. I was so amaze how small body they are but lays xlarge eggs, my brown layers not so.

Mine started having melodic hymns first, then started having really red combs and wattle, started squatting when approached then very territorial w/ nests before I saw the first mini trial eggs, then the no shell until they made it really perfect in a weeks time.

 

[Amylia]

Thank you so much for the information! I want to take the best care of my new additions to the family. I'm an animal lover and would NOT want to do anything to hurt my chickens. How will I know when they need to be dewormed? What do I look for?

Thanks again!

 

[Amylia]

Thanks for sharing this information! I'll look for signs in a couple of months....I'm guessing mine are about 7-8 weeks old now. I can't seem to get a good answer on their age, but I've had them 40 days now. So, I'm guessing it will be at least 10 weeks before I need to start looking for signs of laying.

 

[Bill Matthews]

Please ignore what I said about dewormers....Seems that I don't really know what I am talking about.......There is a thread on this forum entitled simply, "Deworming chickens page 4"....These people know more than I do about this....Sorry for the false info......Always been anti-meds except in clearly proven need.......

 

[Amylia]

No worries! I'm simply trying to learn. Learn how soon to do things, what signs to look for including worms. I realize everyone has their own way of raising their chickens. And some geographical areas handle things different than other areas too. I just don't want to do anything I'm not supposed to and not miss something that I need to take care of! I appreciate all the info? Thank you all!