Grrrr. whats taking so long?

[bills]

I still am baffled as to why I only am getting five out of six birds laying. One hen, and I still can't figure out for sure which one, still dosen't seem to want to lay an egg.

I was told to expect that sex-links will lay almost every 25 hours, without question. It took the fifth bird at least 3 weeks longer than the rest to start to lay, so obviously they don't all mature at the same rate. That bird still is hit and miss on producing an egg every day, and the eggs are still pretty small.

I just can't figure whats taking the last one so long. They are supposedly all the same age, approx 29-30 weeks.

Do some birds just not lay at all, or, is it unusual for this great delay, in certain birds?

 

[MissPrissy]

What breed of chickens do you have? Not all of them are known to be great layers.

Like every woman every hen is different. Some lay every day like clockwork. Some lay every other day. Some lay every 3rd day. I have had pullets start to lay at 19 weeks and some go over 30 weeks.

Make sure they are getting a complete diet that meets their nutritonal needs. They need later ration and lots of clean water. Chickens are omnivors. They need fresh vegetation and animal proteins.

At their age it is likely they won't lay until a bit warmer weather gets here. Can't predict it. Can't force it. They lay when they lay.

You might find that even with 6 hens and 5 eggs that those 5 eggs may not be coming from the same 5 hens.

 

[turnerstar31]

some birds take longer to lay than others. Are you sure that not all your birds are laying right now. They are still pretty young and sometimes do not lay regularly so maybe they are all laying but one skips a day here or there. My guess if you are sure that the one is not than just give her sometime. Some birds just do not mature as fast as others.

 

[championny]

Mine are picky. I have been averaging about 2 eggs a day, sometimes a day or two skipped like yesterday, and I have 8 hens. If your lucky, perhaps you'll wake up to 6 eggs all in one day!

 

[bills]

Well maybe I spoke to soon, although I"m still not sure.

The one bird that I suspected was not laying,(smaller comb/wattles, duller red) was having a fit yesterday after I collected the eggs. (One of which was soft shelled, and broke in the nest, I suspect from being stepped on rather than pecked.) Perhaps this was her first egg? Anyways she spent a good portion of the morning jumping up and looking in the nest, over and over again, like 50 times. She also wandered all around the hen house as if searching for something, and making worried sounds. Never have seen this behaviour before, but I thought that if this was her first egg, she may have been looking for it. The other hens were all out in the run merrily enjoying themselves.

Anybody seen that behaviour before? Sound like a first egg kind of thing?

(Miss Prissy, my birds are sex-link I think some call them ISA Browns, and are supposed to be good layers.)

 

[wynedot55]

as said not all hens lay everyday.sounds like you have 1 laying every other day.

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

Did you say that you have sex-link hens? If so, most of my S-L's started laying at 20-22 weeks, but I have one that hasn't started yet. She also looks different than the others, and I suspect she's just a late-maturing bird. If yours are 30 weeks old, though...I'd wonder if perhaps there is an internal problem. If she still isn't laying normally within the next month, you may want to start problem-solving as to why that may be. Good luck!

 

[bills]

Quote:
In what way does it look different? The one bird that I suspect that has been delaying laying also looks slightly different. It was always slightly bigger than the other pullets, larger feet, and also is almost all brown with very little of the buff coloring. It also seemed to be the lowest in the pecking order, and has always behaved slightly differently. For instance, when the birds are first let out in the morning, they all concentrate on the turf clumps, or weeds that I have put in the run. Scratching through them, looking for worms and bugs. The oddball, stands and looks at me, or just wanders around, paying no attention to anything on particular. Wierd...

I wonder if it has more of the RIR in it's genes. Are they normally later layers, and slightly bigger birds, then sex-links?