Chickens aren't laying...

Dennis j.l. Hagood July 28, 2011 at 6:03am

I have 3 black orpington, that layed a few eggs the first week i adopted them, I have had them for about two and a half months now and havent had an egg from any of them since week 1. I built them a huge area to roam and there coop is huge and they are the lead ladys in my flock every one runs when they stroll in, what can I do to help them lay, they are about 17 months old from what i am told.

Tabitha July 11, 2011 at 2:36pm

Welp... another 3 weeks... and still no eggs. :( We have searched every square inch of the property... I give up.

I am really considering putting together a pool for bets...

Sheri Schmeckpeper > Tabitha July 11, 2011 at 3:06pm

Aww, don't give up. With the extreme heat, they do cut back on laying, and sometimes just don't lay. It's odd that all 10 are not laying, though. We were getting 8-9/day which were mostly being laid in the morning. Now with the heat we're down to about 6-7, laid throughout the day. The shells are a little softer and while they use the boxes mostly, we're finding eggs in random places, too. We found eggs behind a horse trough, under a tree, in some rocks and in a battery box up on our boat. We expect things to settle down after the weather cools.

Other thoughts:
If their wings aren't clipped they can go over walls, and they can escape to a more favored yard.
Be sure you're feeding lay pellets and add some oyster shells or baked egg shell crumbles to supplement the calcium.
You could try keeping them penned throughout the day, forcing them to lay in the coop. But do that only if they have a lot of shade and ventilation in their coop. Since they're used to roaming, do this only if you can check on them very frequently.
Chickens can get into egg eating (they can consume the entire egg without a sign left).
Tabitha > Sheri Schmeckpeper July 16, 2011 at 8:44pm

Interesting! I am pretty sure they are staying in the yard as I can usually go out there and see them all.. but I'll try keeping them cooped for a bit... They have a pretty open coop so shouldn't be an issue!

Thanks for the help!!

Sheri Schmeckpeper June 20, 2011 at 7:06am

We have 11 and we've been getting eggs for about 3 weeks now, but a couple still haven't started laying. It depends on the breed & the chicken. Their comb become deep red when they come close to maturity, and like Michele said, they'll squat for you when you get close to them, if you've trained them to handle them. (The do that for the "Boss" chicken, which in nature would be the rooster. It's a position of submission, which allows mating.)

If you have boxes in their coop, they'll usually favor those for laying because of the security it provides, but they can find other places; anywhere they feel safe. They give off crys when they lay. For some reason they like to announce it to the world, so listen for that. It's a repeated, cluck, cluck, cluck, BOCK.

I'll bet they'll start soon. Let us know when it happens. :)

Michele June 14, 2011 at 7:03pm

one of my leghorns was 26 weeks before she laid her first egg. I waited to feed them layer feed until they started laying. are they squatting for you yet? that is a sign that it will be soon.

ed fancher June 14, 2011 at 6:28pm

Patience

They'll lay when they are ready.

I will say that in the heat they slow down some but you should start to get eggs soon. I'm surprised you haven't gotten eggs already. Are they hiding them somewhere else?

Tabitha > ed fancher June 14, 2011 at 6:36pm

I have checked everywhere I can think of... under bushes, behind patio furniture... I have yet to find a single egg. I even just sit back and watch them to see if they are favoring any spots... but I haven't seen them settle in anywhere except the floor of their coop/run.

Micro Livestock

Chickens aren't laying...

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