8 months old and not laying

[kueblercoop]

I have 2 Rhode Island Reds and 3 black australorps. Both of my Reds have been laying for at least 3 months. 2 of my autralorps have been laying 1.5 - 2 months. I have one hen that has not laid an egg yet? Any information would be helpful.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Everyone matures at their own pace, so you may just have a later bloomer on your hands. What are you basing the statement that she has not laid yet - simple egg counts or a "production status" exam of the bird? If it is the former, it may be a matter of her laying sporadically in conjunction with sporadic laying from the others to give the appearance that you are down one layer.
Do you have photos of the birds, specifically showing the one in question and that bird in comparison to the australorps that you feel are in production?

 

[kueblercoop]

Everyone matures at their own pace, so you may just have a later bloomer on your hands. What are you basing the statement that she has not laid yet - simple egg counts or a "production status" exam of the bird? If it is the former, it may be a matter of her laying sporadically in conjunction with sporadic laying from the others to give the appearance that you are down one layer.
Do you have photos of the birds, specifically showing the one in question and that bird in comparison to the australorps that you feel are in production?

I am only basing it on egg count. I kept them in the coop/small run for 2 days and still only had 4 eggs from 5 chickens. I have never had 3 australorp eggs in one day (I have three australorps total). I have caught the others in the box and had an egg afterwards. I catch her in the box and then no egg. I would love to know how to do a production exam. Here is a picture. It is one of the two to the right of my daughter. The look similar. I am going to keep a VERY close eye on who is in the box this month but with the days getting shorter I am not getting the eggs I got a month ago anyway . thank you for your response!

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[Lady of McCamley]

It sounds like they are all laying...she's in the box, so she is interested in laying. Getting 4 eggs out of 5 birds at this time of year is excellent production. It is rare that you will get 5 eggs out of 5 birds...that would be top production at the summer season with the long daylight hours.

As to how to determine if a hen is laying by physical examination, I offer this excellent article:
http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-2.pdf

LofMc