28 Week Welsummers and still no eggs

[sbhkma]

My two Welsummers are 28 weeks old. Nice red combs, healthy birds. I haven't seen them eating oyster shell and they're not squatting. Looks like they've been in the nest boxes exploring but that's it. There's no way they're laying anywhere hidden. It's migration time and they are kept in for October since here in south central Texas we get a ton of hawks right now. I've not heard the egg song either. About 3 weeks ago they were "practicing" singing for a couple days and that's been it. Eggs are secondary for us as the primary purpose is bug control duty and entertainment. Wellies excel in both those areas. I've never seen such inquisitive birds. They come flying right to me when I call them too! Is it typical for Welsummers to be so late in laying? Wondering if they're not going to lay until spring since they're not laying yet and we're getting shorter daylight times.

 

[junebuggena]

Did you switch them to layer feed already? That can slow down their rate of development.

 

[Hen Power]

Hi. Welsummers are beautiful birds. Their name is pronounced Velsummuh. I have my first flock; 3 Wyandottes, 1 pencil cochin banty and 1 little red banty. I'm sure you know this already, but from my research, size matters. It appears that large birds like the Wellies and Wyandottes may lay on the outside of 28 weeks and beyond while smaller birds may lay sooner than 28 weeks.

My Wyandottes are doing diddly squat, but my little cochin laid 19, yes 19 little eggs under my deck this last weekend. So it appears that the timing thing is right.

Keep us posted.

 

[sbhkma]

Did you switch them to layer feed already? That can slow down their rate of development.

I don't do layer feed. I feed flock raiser crumbles and then offer free choice oyster shell for the calcium. All they get for treats is a little sunflower seeds (like a tablespoon) and once a week Kaytee baby bird food with water (they love pudding consistency) and a few poly vi sol vitamin drops.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Are these your only birds? If not....aree you basing non production on overall egg count, lack of expected color in eggs you are getting, physical assessment for production or.....? If they are the only birds disregard all but the last point

 

[sbhkma]

The only birds I currently have yes. My previous birds all were laying by 22 weeks (Cuckoo Marans and Speckled Sussex). These two have nice red combs and wattles, one is larger and more red than the other. I've had them since they were 5 weeks old. Egg production isn't a huge issue, just wondering if this is typical of the breed. I don't use lights through the winter. They have 75 sq ft of run with two roost poles in it and another 25 sq ft of coop plus two 5 ft roost poles and two nest boxes bedded with shavings. One nest has a couple fake eggs in it. During non-migration season they get to free range from 2pm to dark. I'll be getting a few more wellies the first week of November. The current girls will be kept in their coop/run to make sure they don't go visit the new (and quarantined) pullets for 30 days.

 

[sbhkma]

Here's a pic of Leia and Luna bug hunting around the woodshop before bed. I let them out for about an hour while the dogs and I keep an eye on them. When the crows come back and the hawks go away they'll be out more (until the new birds arrive that is). Luna on the right has looked like that for about 3 weeks now. Leia looks a bit less developed although they're the same age.

 

[junebuggena]

Luna is very, very close to laying. Leia has a few more weeks to go. This time of year, it just takes a bit longer for pullets to mature.

 

[R2elk]

My two Welsummers are 28 weeks old. Nice red combs, healthy birds. I haven't seen them eating oyster shell and they're not squatting. Looks like they've been in the nest boxes exploring but that's it. There's no way they're laying anywhere hidden. It's migration time and they are kept in for October since here in south central Texas we get a ton of hawks right now. I've not heard the egg song either. About 3 weeks ago they were "practicing" singing for a couple days and that's been it. Eggs are secondary for us as the primary purpose is bug control duty and entertainment. Wellies excel in both those areas. I've never seen such inquisitive birds. They come flying right to me when I call them too! Is it typical for Welsummers to be so late in laying? Wondering if they're not going to lay until spring since they're not laying yet and we're getting shorter daylight times.

From the images it looks like your birds are nearing POL. My experience with Welsummers is that most start laying after they are 6 months old but I did have two that did not begin laying until they were one year old.

Good luck.

 

[andreanar]

I have a defective australorp, same age as your girls. No egg yet.