33 week old EE still not laying

[alknoll]

Did I buy a lemon? Will she not lay until spring? Located in SE Michigan, temps are 20s at night/ 30s/40s during the day. Her sister the same age started laying weeks ago!

 

[lovesfarms]

Did I buy a lemon? Will she not lay until spring? Located in SE Michigan, temps are 20s at night/ 30s/40s during the day. Her sister the same age started laying weeks ago!

View attachment 2445420

Isn't that frustrating? I got mine the middle of May and the first one started laying this past Sunday. I thought I'd they don't start laying before Dec, it goes till the days are longer in January so I was surprised but happy she started. I have one that looks exactly like yours. My next one is squatting now so the smaller ones are laying first. I sure hope we don't have to wait much longer!

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

Sometimes you just get really late layers. She might be waiting until it here warmer.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Some chickens take longer than others to reach POL. My pullets are on Week 27 of life tomorrow, and right now, only Jellybean one of my EEs has started. I was actually surprised when she layed a blue one in the nest box at just 24 weeks, since EEs are usually late, and like your bird, most don’t start until they are close to the 30 week mark. Every bird is different, but I don’t expect you will wait that much longer. Her comb appears to be getting redder, and by comparing her to Jellybean, you can see POL might just be up on the horizon!

Here’s JB with a very simaler pic, which I took earlier today. As you can see, her comb is very close to your pullets, and they’re only 5 weeks apart. I expect my other EE Opal to start laying around 30-35 weeks, which is normal for this “breed.” Your chicken will probably do the same to. But every chicken is different!

Be patient! If she doesn’t lay until spring, that’s ok. But assuming that since your others are now, there’s no reason she shouldn’t either. I expect you will find an egg from her some time soon!

 

[alknoll]

Some chickens take longer than others to reach POL. My pullets are on Week 27 of life tomorrow, and right now, only Jellybean one of my EEs has started. I was actually surprised when she layed a blue one in the nest box at just 24 weeks, since EEs are usually late, and like your bird, most don’t start until they are close to the 30 week mark. Every bird is different, but I don’t expect you will wait that much longer. Her comb appears to be getting redder, and by comparing her to Jellybean, you can see POL might just be up on the horizon! View attachment 2445439
Here’s JB with a very simaler pic, which I took earlier today. As you can see, her comb is very close to your pullets, and they’re only 5 weeks apart. I expect my other EE Opal to start laying around 30-35 weeks, which is normal for this “breed.” Your chicken will probably do the same to. But every chicken js

Be patient! If she doesn’t lay until spring, that’s ok. But assuming that since your others are now, there’s no reason she shouldn’t either. I expect you will find an egg from her some time soon!

Thanks! Her comb has been this red since fall, it was much redder than her sister's who started laying way before her. I just don't get it! A little disappointed since the EE who is laying lays WHITE eggs. Arg. But even though it's not a color, it does add another tone to the egg basket as I don't have any other white egg layers. Looking on the bright side!

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

She should start laying in the spring!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Winter is a hard time to expect eggs on a regular basis. Also, it's been my personal experience that EE's are not great layers. Infrequent layers at best. I have 8 of them, all over a year old and I only get 3 eggs from them a day! She will start when she gets a round tuit! Be patient.

 

[alknoll]

She should start laying in the spring!

What a freeloader! haha

 

[CHlCKEN]

Thanks! Her comb has been this red since fall, it was much redder than her sister's who started laying way before her. I just don't get it! A little disappointed since the EE who is laying lays WHITE eggs. Arg. But even though it's not a color, it does add another tone to the egg basket as I don't have any other white egg layers. Looking on the bright side!

I’ve noticed that chickens redden up early. My Wyandotte, Valentine, Has been red since week 18 and she’s yet to lay! However, it was the same case with JB, who was red at week 18 but didn’t lay for another 6 weeks. Call them “liars” if you want ! With time and patience, you will get an egg. Hopefully a nice color to! And don’t worry about the white-layer. It might be a bonus. If you can create a basket with lots of different colors, such as a combination of a few different colors, like eggs from blue eggers, green eggers, white eggers, tan eggers, and dark brown eggers, you can come up with something that will look fantastic! Just like what I did here with JB’s eggs and some regular brown eggs from the store. By themselves the brown ones are boring, but with the other color next to them, they look great! You can’t be disappointed with color, each of them can look great (although I admit, colored eggs are more fun!)

We won the lottery with JB here, and she’s laid about 15 beautiful Blue/Green eggs so far! I’m sure your wait will be rewarding, and you will have a carton like this!

I’ll try and find a pic of Valentines red comb at 17 weeks to show you. She looked so POL some said “cockerel!” Before they even got to see a full-body picture! (She’s definitely a pullet though!) However, The comb is not always accurate, they can redden up a long time before the chicken is ready. Better signs would be checking her vent or look up tricks (you can look that up, my post is getting to long) and watch for her to squat. Hopefully that will happen soon! But in the meantime, we can play the first-egg waiting game together! I have 3 other Pullets who are taking their sweet time, And I’ll have you know, I’m not very patient!

 

[CHlCKEN]

Winter is a hard time to expect eggs on a regular basis. Also, it's been my personal experience that EE's are not great layers. Infrequent layers at best. I have 8 of them, all over a year old and I only get 3 eggs from them a day! She will start when she gets a round tuit! Be patient.

Very true! However, JB one of my EEs almost laid an egg a day for 15 days straight, and only broke that streak because she skipped one day on what could have been her 13th egg. But that means she’s got a 12 day streak, and that’s still impressive. New layers usually have a hard time setting up a pattern, so I won’t be surprised if she suddenly takes a random break. But for now, I’m not complaining! After all, she’s my only laying chicken, because all my adult hens are molting

I actually bought the EE because I didn’t want a super reliable layer (I learned my lesson, see the pic:

Spoiler: The Phone Camera was only able to capture about half of them

) so once my other chickens start back up/go into POL, I’ll be ok with just a few JB eggs each week.