23 Week Old Pullets not Laying

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farmgirl02

farmgirl02

Chirping
6 Years
Dec 1, 2013
178
28
98
Inside my chicken coop teaching my chickens tricks
I have two 23 week old hens that have not laid yet. They are both mix breeds. They haven't laid yet. A chicken friend of mine told me not to give them layers mash until after they lay. So I have been feeding them Purina Flock Raiser, and whole corn on cold nights, (only when they need it to keep them warm.) They are small for their ages, and as for their combs, they are getting bigger everyday, but very slowly.

Please tell me if you know what is wrong!

Thank you.

farmgirl
 
Maybe nothing is wrong. I waited 7 months for my hens to start laying. Thats about 30 weeks. Not all things happen like clockwork. And are you sure you have hens? Just a thought.
thumbsup.gif
 
What breed? Are their combs reddening up? They're still young. The last of my pullets hatched April 28 just started laying this week (8 months 2 weeks) while all of one breed hatched June 6 still aren't laying and their combs aren't red.
My EE's hatched on the same date started laying around the 5.5 month mark.
 
They are fine! My hen just starting laying (24 weeks old), and I am still waiting for my other SLW to lay.
 
farmgirl02 said:
Can they eat layers mash?
Click to expand...


I have always waited until they actually lay to switch over. There is more protein in the other feed to help them with development, more calcium in the layer to help with egg shell development/bone strength. I also feed out my developer feed even if they start laying and I just got a new bag. I make sure they have oyster shell grit free choice and we bake and feed the egg shells to them. You most likely won't hurt them if you switch over now. We often worry a bit too much over our first birds. Most of them make it just fine, regardless of any "mistakes" we make.:D
 
farmgirl02 said:
Can they eat layers mash?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are old enough to take layers mash. Flockraiser has more protein though, and since I have young birds often, I feed that to my flocks.

They still have time to start laying. Each chicken is an individual and certain breeds take longer to start up than others. I still have pullets hatched last April that have not started laying yet.
 
I have four 34-week-old orpingtons, and I'm still waiting for one of them to start laying! (And another one has only been laying for a week or so.) So give them time - from what I've heard, it takes longer for them to start laying when the days are shorter, anyway.
 
I bake them just enough to dry them. It helps keep the birds from getting a taste for raw eggs (I am told) but I do it because they are not slimy when you crush them. I put them in a zip lock, crush them, then scatter them in the run for the girls to pick at. I can reuse the bag several times and it doesn't get yucky if the egggs are dry.
 

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