Wacko egg laying!

[Kenberg]

Hello!

I have 5 hens- 2 Australorps, 1 Barred Rock, 1 EE and 1 Mille Fleur D'Uccle Bantam. They are ALL over the place with laying!

*picture is of EE and Australorps about a week ago*

The Bantam was the first to lay (!) And gave me about a dozen tiny beauties. Then nothing for 3 months.

The EE has not laid yet and is coming up on 37 weeks old. She also has almost no comb or wattle and what is there is very pink.

The other 3 all lay about an egg a day.

What's up with my Bantam and my EE? They all have free choice oyster she'll, layer pellets and they free range.

 

[nuthatched]

It's winter, if they didn't reach the laying maturity before daylight decreased, they won't lay until spring. Tip: Higher protein layer pellets are good for winter and the rest of the year, basic 16% layer just barely meets protein requirements.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Hello!

I have 5 hens- 2 Australorps, 1 Barred Rock, 1 EE and 1 Mille Fleur D'Uccle Bantam. They are ALL over the place with laying!

*picture is of EE and Australorps about a week ago*

The Bantam was the first to lay (!) And gave me about a dozen tiny beauties. Then nothing for 3 months.

The EE has not laid yet and is coming up on 37 weeks old. She also has almost no comb or wattle and what is there is very pink.

The other 3 all lay about an egg a day.

What's up with my Bantam and my EE? They all have free choice oyster she'll, layer pellets and they free range.

My EE hasn't laid and these short days might not lay till spring.

 

[aart]

What's up with my Bantam and my EE?

Some just take longer to start laying.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[maryn7]

Guessing we got from the same hatchery - if I didn't know you posted it, that looks like a picture of one of my EEs from head to toe.

Like you, my Australorp lays well.

My EE like the one above did start laying around the right time, but was my spottiest layer - a couple shell-less, a couple double yolkers and slightly thin shells. Maybe two months ago, she appears to have hurt her leg, stress molted, stopped and hasn't started back up again.

However, I have another EE from that group who never started laying at all. She was first to squat, squatted for a few weeks and then stopped doing that.

I'm waiting to see if either of them gets on the egg train this spring, but it's been mostly swings and misses on the colored layers for me.

At least the egg-less one is sweet; I watched the gray/gold EE mount and peck the lovely (and egg-producing!) Australorp this morning.