26 week old Australorps

[TamaraW]

Howdy,

I have 4 australorps who have just turned 26 weeks. Still no eggs out of all 4. They are healthy and have really red wattles and combs. 2 weeks ago 2 of my girls started “squatting” when I was near by and today one of the girls keeps going in and out of the coop. Does this mean she’s looking for a safe place to lay? Or could it be something else health wise?

Thankyou

 

[DobieLover]

It means the onset of lay is imminent. Do you have fake eggs in their nest boxes? Are they semi-private? You need to make your nest boxes more appealing than finding their own nest site outside the coop in which to lay eggs.

 

[TamaraW]

It means the onset of lay is imminent. Do you have fake eggs in their nest boxes? Are they semi-private? You need to make your nest boxes more appealing than finding their own nest site outside the coop in which to lay eggs.

Don’t have fake eggs but have golf balls, will that work? I do have a nesting box outside their coop in their run filled with soft hay and half of it is all dark. It’s coming into winter fast here in South Australia so thought they might not get going till spring arrives….but then again they may so not sure.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Don’t have fake eggs but have golf balls, will that work? I do have a nesting box outside their coop in their run filled with soft hay and half of it is all dark. It’s coming into winter fast here in South Australia so thought they might not get going till spring arrives….but then again they may so not sure.

Golf balls are fine. Sounds like they're close to laying but shortened daylight hours delayed it. They might lay through winter, or might start and end up stopping in the shortest days of winter and then resume early on in spring.