26 weeks and still no eggs? What am i doing wrong?

[homeschooler]

I have one sex link who is 22 weeks old and 2 black australorps who are (supposed to be) 26 weeks old. they free range all day and rarely go in the coop to eat their feed. could this be the reason they are not laying yet? i've looked all over the yard for eggs and haven't found any. we use countryside organics feed. i don't have them on the layer feed because i have so much of the grower/broiler left. last week i mixed in some oyster shell into their feed, so they could eat it if they needed it.

any thoughts?

 

[Den in Penn]

They could be late layers. Are they red combed? Have they squatted? Have they spent time investigating the nests? Given their age I would lock them in the coop for a few days to be sure they aren't hiding them. If you leave them out in the late afternoon and they make a bee line to some place follow them.

 

[homeschooler]

We have a 2 story coup and the nest box is in the top part. They really are only up there at night. I haven't seen them investigating it. If I lock them in for a few days, do I need to move the nest down to the bottom or is it fine up top? I haven't noticed them squatting, but I don't exactly know what that would look like. ) The sex link has a red comb, but the australorps, not so much.
2-3 weeks ago, they started making a lot of noise for no apparent reason and got a little more aggressive with each other and more stand- offish with us. I heard that was a sign they might start laying soon. But, they've almost gone back to their normal selves this last week.

Oh, I also stopped feeding them table scraps last week also. I thought maybe they were eating too much people food and not enough chicken food. Now, they spend much more time eating grass in the yard rather than sitting on the patio waiting for treats.

 

[what did I do]

I'd sit out in the yard and listen to them. If at any time they start talking loud I'd go look for eggs. That is the best way to find the eggs.

 

[homeschooler]

I have actually done the sitting out there and listening thing..... nothing.

i can see one of them being a late layer. but, all 3 of them? seems strange. that's why i think i'm doing something wrong.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

The one with a red comb is hiding her eggs. The other 2 may not be. Lock them in coop, and no, you don't need to move the next boxes. When they look like this > Thats squatting

 

[ducklucky]

You are not doing anything wrong. As my obstetrician told me when I was 11 days late, "when the apple is ripe, it will fall from the tree" wise words I remember 30 years later. Don't waste your time sitting there and waiting, you know the old phrase a watched pot...They'll come on soon, make sure they get plenty of natural sunlight, proper food, and it will happen soon. Combs and wattles will get brilliant red, then watch out wihin a day or 2 or 3. I always switch to layer pellets at the first egg (some of you may not agree with that, but have done it for 10 years) and the rest seem to follow within a week or 2. You are doing everything right, it's them, not you. Just plenty of sunshine is the most important.

 

[yorklady]

I think your girls may be laying their eggs somewhere that you don't know about. Keep them in their coop like Den suggested and I'll bet you will find that they are laying. I would also stop giving them the grower feed and give them layer feed.

 

[ducklucky]

Also would not try to change anything drastically at this point, keep things the same as always. Changes do affect them. Just do what you always do.

 

[blueseal]

you should see eggs soon. iv had new pullets wait until 32 weeks to start. hang in there.