11 month old not laying??

[FrankA]

I have an 11 month old Barred Rock that hasn't started laying yet. Do you think she will ever start laying? What is the oldest chicken you have heard of that started laying?
Thanks!

 

[krista74]

Hi FrankA,

Sorry no-one has gotten back to you yet. I am no expert but the first thing I thought of (and please forgive me, but this has just happened so many times) is are you sure she is actually a she, and not a he? Perhaps you could post a picture of her so that we can just rule that out first. You would be surprised how many people I've heard of on this site, who are on the longest egg wait of their lives, lol. Again, I'm not trying to insinuate you don't know what you're talking about, but sometimes with our own birds it's harder to tell.

Ruling that out, a lack of laying hey...? Perhaps if she was at POL as Winter came in I could see that could stop her laying, although that being said my POL's started laying in the dead of Winter. I'm not heaps familiar with the BR's myself as I've never owned the breed. I'm no sure what the average age to start laying for them is, but 11 months sounds ....kind of late.

I do hope that in bumping this thread up it will bring in some answers for you. Sorry I can't be of more hep, but yes, a picture might be a good start.

All the best to you.

Krista.

 

[FrankA]

Thanks Krista. I'm fairly certain she is a she. I got her with another Barred Rock and the other one has been laying since about October. You can take a look at her in my Blog. I just started it last week so there isn't much content there yet but hopefully there will be soon . Link to blog is in my signature. The hen I'm talking about is named Fancy feet. Thanks again!

 

[krista74]

Hmmm, whilst I am no expert in BR's, she does look female to me. Interesting.....

She has a very red comb and for all intents and purposes she looks like she is already laying, which makes me suspicious. Could she be laying somewhere in secret? Sometimes they can set up a little secret nest somewhere in the yard, and it's usually somewhere very safe and secure - like under your porch, or under a very dense bush somewhere. Perhaps a search of your property might be a good idea, because by golly she looks like she's already on the job!

If she isn't laying yet I doubt it will be long before she does

I'd love to see what some more experienced folk think though, because as I said I am not very familiar with the breed myself.

GOOD LUCK!

- Krista

 

[FrankA]

Thanks for looking Krista. She is definitely not laying anywhere else. She hasn't been out of the run all winter. They don't like the snow. Lol. Hopefully she'll start when the warmer weather comes.