Hens Not Laying?

[poul-tree-girl]

Hi all,

We have 5 hens (2 crested cream legbars, 1 Blue Ameraucana, 1 Black Orpington, and 1 Welsummer).

They are all 29 weeks old today. Only one of them is laying (1 of the crested cream legbars).

Is this normal egglaying behavior (timelines)? Are we not creating a good environment for them?

We feed them Purina Layer crumbles.

Please let me know your thoughts - thank you so much!

 

[Tookie]

Could they be molting?
How's your weather been?
Where did you get them?

 

[NatJ]

We have 5 hens (2 crested cream legbars, 1 Blue Ameraucana, 1 Black Orpington, and 1 Welsummer).

They are all 29 weeks old today. Only one of them is laying (1 of the crested cream legbars).

Is this normal egglaying behavior (timelines)?

If you are in the USA, the days are getting shorter. Short days, especially ones that are continuing to get shorter yet, can make pullets mature more slowly (as compared with other times of the year, and also compared with hatchery estimates. The hatchery might keep their flock in a pen with controlled lighting.)

Some pullets will start laying in the fall, while others may wait until the days start getting longer after midwinter, and some pullets even wait until spring.

If they seem healthy otherwise, this may be perfectly normal.

But do look around in case there are any hidden nests. Sometimes they can be very good at hiding eggs!

We feed them Purina Layer crumbles.

For pullets or hens that are actively laying, that is fine. Layer feed has a large amount of calcium, which the hens need to make eggshells.

For pullets that are not laying yet, the layer has too much calcium. Eating too much calcium for a long time can be bad for them.

When you next need to buy feed, if some are still not laying, I would suggest you get a different kind of feed. You can use chick starter, or grower, or all-flock, or flock raiser. Any of those will have less calcium (about 1% is a good number), and any of them will have more protein than most layer feeds (the extra protein will not hurt your chickens, and may even be healthier for them.)

Then provide a separate dish of oyster shell as a calcium source. Chickens are usually quite good at eating the right amount of calcium for their own needs. That way the ones that are laying can get as much calcium as they need, and the ones that are not laying can avoid overdosing.

A low-calcium feed with a separate dish of oyster shell is safe for chickens of all ages, whether they are laying or not. So you can feed them that way for their entire lives if you want. Or you can put them back on layer feed once they are all laying, if you prefer to do it that way.