Will she wait till spring to lay now?

[Chestoah]

We have four hens that we raised from week old chicks back in March. Three of them have been laying since late summer. The one who still hasn't is named Toaster (my daughter is four and names all critters.) Toaster was sold to us as an Ameraucana, although now I realize she is actually an EE. She still has not laid an egg. Will she wait until spring to lay an egg now? We are in the Blue Ridge Mountains and it is already quite cool here. Also, what is the likelihood that she will actually be a blue egg layer? We told my daughter she would (because the feed store said she would) and my little girl can't wait for that blue egg to appear! Will she be disappointed when the egg finally appears?

Toaster is the lowest hen on the pecking order, and I've wondered if maybe that is why she doesn't lay. We are still getting an egg a day like clockwork from the other three girls. Here is her picture (along with our delightful serama roo, Elvis).

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s impossible to say when she will start laying. Each one is an individual. I’ve had pullets lay their first egg the first week of December, about the shortest days of the year but with days still getting shorter. I’ve had pullets wait until spring.

You can improve your odds by installing lights out there and extending their daylight. Trick her into thinking it is spring. Figure out what the day length is today and gradually, say 5 to 10 minutes day, increase the length of daylight. Those timers work really well for that but you have to adjust for changing sunrise and sunset times. You’ll still need patience. Unless she has already started to make the necessary changes internally, it can take a few weeks for a hen to go from not even thinking about laying to actually laying. Once she starts laying stop increasing daylight and hold that steady for the rest of the winter until the actual daylight hits that length.

It’s hard to say about the pecking order. Until they all reach full maturity, a more mature hen will outrank a less mature hen. It’s more likely that she is at the bottom of the pecking order because she is not yet mature enough to lay than the other way around. Once she completes her maturity she may or may not move up in the pecking order.

I wish I could tell you what color of egg she will lay but with an EE you just don’t know unless you know a lot about her parents. Then you could at least make an educated guess. It could be any color or any shade. If she has a comb that looks sort of like a pea comb, that is a good sign, but that is still not a guarantee. I can’t see the comb well enough to be sure, but it looks like you have a chance. I sure wish you luck on that one.

 

[Chestoah]

Thanks ridgerunner! She sort of has a pea comb, it's definitely not a single comb like the rest of my girls. It sort of folds in on itself in the middle, it's weird. She doesn't seem to have the muff either. I don't really care what color her eggs are, but my little daughter sure does. She's a sweet, pretty hen.