The cute baby chicks that you ordered a few months ago have grown and by now are almost full sized pullets that are getting ready to begin laying their first eggs.  Now that they are no longer babies, what do you need to do to ensure that you are properly caring for your egg laying hens to make sure that they are happy and healthy hens?

Typically, pullets will be mature enough to begin laying their first eggs when they are about six months old.  Your juvenile chicks will start to grow combs and waddles when they are young but they don’t have any color and are not very large.  You will notice that when they are ready to begin laying eggs, their combs and waddles will grow larger and become bright red.  Once this happens, you will start to find very small eggs in your nests.

What should you do to make sure your young pullets are healthy and stay in prime laying condition?  Let’s go over some general house keeping duties you should perform on a daily basis.

Give fresh water and feed.
Collect eggs
Observe your flock every day to make sure your pullets are healthy.

 There are some chores you should do every week or two.

Change the bedding in your hen house.
Change or freshen the nesting material in your nesting boxes.
Clean and sanitize all food and waterers.

 There are also some jobs that need to be done once a year.

Once a year you need to remove every single item from your chicken coop and completely sanitize it.  This is a good chance to check for any parasites that might have taken up residence in your chicken coop.  I always use a bug bomb once a year and once a year I spray the entire area with malathion to help prevent any pest infestations.  Be sure and read the directions because you will have to keep your chickens out of these areas for a few weeks or toss the eggs.

Worm your chickens once a year to help keep their parasite load down.  It is almost impossible to completely get rid of all internal chicken parasites, but you need to keep their numbers down. 

Keeping your egg laying hens healthy and happy is pretty easy to do.  A clean, pest free environment and clean food and water go a long way towards keeping the ladies happy and laying eggs for you. CLICK HERE to find out more about what is “normal egg laying” for hens.

Related Laying Chickens Articles