21 week old hens not laying

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Glad to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I think you have your answer on why your pullets are not yet laying... and it isn't because you are not feeding them layer feed!!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUN-omenal Flock!

 

[Debby in france]

Hello all!!

I have 15, 21 week old hens and they haven't started laying yet. We are in northern WV, so it has been getting dark around 4:30-5 for a few weeks now. They free range when we are home to supervise them (I get home around 3:30p), as we have coyote and racoon problems. I'm currently finishing up a bag of grower/finisher feed and we don't have supplimental light/heat in the coop. Aside from waiting (impatiently) what should I do? I did witness one of our roosters mounting a hen today!

We have....
3 australorps
4 Easter eggers
4 salmon favorilles
4 wynadottes

I agree with the others, the amount of daylight hours is what stimulates the production of an egg so if your days are short then eggs will be fewer. As they are still babes they are probably a bit confused. Give them time.
In the meantime you could give them poultry spice and apple cider vinegar to get them in tip top condition with garlic powder for keep their important passages healthy and clear. May be worth worming them too, do you do that routinely? Do you have grit/oyster shell for them ? Are you giving them layers or just grain ?

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Patience, they will lay. Right now they are young, and day length is short.

 

[StonyCreekFarm]

I agree with the others, the amount of daylight hours is what stimulates the production of an egg so if your days are short then eggs will be fewer. As they are still babes they are probably a bit confused. Give them time.
In the meantime you could give them poultry spice and apple cider vinegar to get them in tip top condition with garlic powder for keep their important passages healthy and clear. May be worth worming them too, do you do that routinely? Do you have grit/oyster shell for them ? Are you giving them layers or just grain ?

Since we selectively free range them, I don't give them grit too often. I see then pick up small pebbles and stones from the driveway. I mix acv in with their water. I didn't know about the garlic! Do I just sprinkle it in with their food? I haven't started oyster shells bc I read that it isn't good for them unless they are laying bc the extra calcium could be harmful unless they need it. Currently they are just on grower/finisher crumbles and some cracked corn on cold evenings... With some meal worms mixed in for occasional treats! I have mixed some diatomaceous earth in their dust bath and also their bedding.

 

[Debby in france]

Since we selectively free range them, I don't give them grit too often. I see then pick up small pebbles and stones from the driveway. I mix acv in with their water. I didn't know about the garlic! Do I just sprinkle it in with their food? I haven't started oyster shells bc I read that it isn't good for them unless they are laying bc the extra calcium could be harmful unless they need it. Currently they are just in grower/finisher crumbles and siem cracked corn on cold evenings... With some meal worms mixed in for occasional treats! I have mixed some diatomaceous earth in their dust bath and also their bedding.

Mine free range everyday but I still mix sand in with their dust bath. We have a woodburner so wood ash is plentiful too, they love it but Esme looks a real mess as she’s white lol.
Garlic - ground garlic 2 girls = 1 teaspoon (5 grams) mixed into the food. Garlic is a natural wormer although I wouldn’t just rely on it. I use verm x every month for that. Can eat the eggs while being treated.
Not sure I agree with the oyster shell thing, but it doesn’t really matter as long as they have some gritty stuff to munch.
I definitely agree with the diatom. Wonderful stuff gets rid of all the nasties. I use it all the time and, despite having a plastic coop, I still put it in the corners and seams.

 

[coach723]

If you put oyster shell out in a separate feeder, available all the time, they will take what they need when they need it. Like many others I use flock raiser rather than layer feed, have been doing so for years, the extra protein helps, and it also helps ensure that those birds that don't need the extra calcium (roo's, young birds, birds in molt, birds off laying for the season) will not get more calcium than they need. It is always a good idea to provide grit the same way, in a separate feeder, that way if for some reason they don't get it adequate from the environment, it's available to them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... but they won’t lay without layer feed, regardless.

Simply not true!

I’d try layer feed and oyster shells. Never let me down.

If one takes the time to read the guaranteed analysis and ingredient tag on a bag of layer feed, they'll discover that there is no magic ingredient that stimulates laying.
Comparing layer feed to other feeds one may notice that layer has a bit less protein than starter/grower/all flock etc. and a bit more than finisher feed. That's because chicks, growing birds and game birds need more protein than fully grown birds. The significant difference is calcium, which is about 4 times as much as other feeds contain.
Calcium doesn't cause ovulation. But feed with about a 10:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio and about 800iu per pound of vitamin D3, it will help build shells as well as replace the calcium lost in the medullary bones each time a hen builds a shell (after ovulation)