No Eggs?

[Ellanora]

I have 5 month old chickens and one almost 2 year old chicken. Both of my younger chickens have not laid any eggs yet

and the 2 year old hasn't given us any either.

The 2 year old is a Minorca and we traded a rooster for her. We got her almost 3 months ago and I feel that she should have at least laid one egg by now.

These are a couple of problems that we have in our coop that may be causing this delay:
-They still might not be completely adjusted. I have seen them fluff up their feathers at each other.
-We sometimes are to busy to fill up their feeder in the morning and they get food at about 4 in the afternoon.
-The nesting box may be wrong. It is a little plywood box with pine shavings (just like the rest of the henhouse) and it is not elevated


I don't know if these are any of the causes for the delay in eggs, but I also have 3 chicks that are still growing and are seperate from my older hens. When I introduce them will that cause more troubles too? And how old should they be before they are safe to go out with the hens? I think they are 1-2 months old.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

 

[junebuggena]

Anything sort of change can cause stress. Stress can cause the egg laying system to shut down temporarily. Feed should be available all day long. If they are running out of feed, you can try to put out a second feeder to make sure that at least one has food in it at the end of the day. Your 5 month old chickens might still be a bit too young to be laying. And depending on where you are in the world, it could be molting season, which would also stop laying.

 

[Mutt Farm]

X2 on a second feeder. You'll need it when you introduce the 3 younger ones anyway. The older established hens may not share! Lack of needed calcium won't stop them from laying but can cause soft or shelless eggs, so be sure you have free choice oyster shell available. Your nest box should be just fine on or near the ground. Hens like to nest low, roost high.
The new hens, at 1 month, they, re too young to integrate, if they're 2 months, you could start the look but don't touch introductions. If you'll post a picture, someone could give you a pretty good age estimate if you are unsure.
At 5 months, your other hens are surely close to laying. Avg is 22 wks. Some of mine have gone 26 before that first egg. Here's a link on introductions in case you aren't familiar with it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
Best of luck to you! They'll come around.

 

[barneveldrerman]

Stress could be your problem. The 2 year old still needs to adjust she is probably stressed out. The 5 month olds should start soon but are still young. They need to mature and get used to the idea of laying eggs.

Hope this helped!

 

[KYTinpusher]

I agree that stress could be keeping your older hen from laying again. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, this time of year is molting season. Is your older hen losing a lot of feathers or growing new ones out? Light levels and hours are lessening, signaling chickens to get ready for winter.This is not a time of year that chickens generally want to start laying. From my experience, pullets that mature in the fall to winter generally take longer to start laying than ones who mature in the spring and summer. Sometimes, they need 2 or 3 more months to start laying.

Be patient, they will start. Do you have fake eggs or golf balls in the nest to show them where to lay and encourage them to do so? Hens seem to want to use a nest that already has eggs in it.

Also, have you made of thorough search of their coop and run area to make sure they are not hiding their eggs? Hens are notorious for picking their own nesting area even when you have a wonderfully prepared place for them. They can fit in a lot of areas that you wouldn't guess they could.

If you post some pictures of the 5-MO pullets with good close-ups of their combs and wattles, we can probably give you an idea of how close they are to laying.

 

[Ellanora]

Thank you for all the advice you have given me. My hens I think already went through their molting stage. When we would hold them they would lose at least 2 feathers. I did put some golf balls in their nesting box.

 

[junebuggena]

Some hens won't start laying after a molt until spring is on the way.

 

[aart]

......
-We sometimes are to busy to fill up their feeder in the morning and they get food at about 4 in the afternoon.
......

Really?!?!
How can you have an animal and not make sure they are fed?!
Hopefully they at least have water.
No wonder you aren't getting any eggs.

 

[Ellanora]

Still no eggs from them yet. We have been doing a better job of checking on them to make sure that they have food and water. The other day I took out their food and I found the older hen sitting on a ping pong ball in the nesting box. She got up after a little while and came and got some food. I am really hoping that she will lay something soon. We bought some oyster shells that we are going to start feeding them but will it really help?
Thanks!!!

 

[junebuggena]

Oyster shells will help them lay eggs with good, strong shells, so they don't have to use the calcium in their bones. It won't actually make them lay, but a source of calcium is necessary for them to maintain production.
Some hens will resume laying as soon as they are done molting. Others might not lay again until spring is on the way. Both are completely normal.