5-6 month old speckled Sussex barely laying eggs.

[Burdoc]

I have 2 speckled Sussex hens that are 5-6 months old and one just started to lay. I hear they’re supposed to be laying around 4 months however and the one just started to lay a month late… and when she does lay eggs it’s like once every few days? I also hear they’re supposed to be good egg layers too?? She’s also very happy and is getting fed well and free ranges throughout the day. Im just confused now. I got some scratch grains to maybe help??

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Dottie, my SS, started laying around that age too. She doesn’t lay every day. If you can, post some pics of the girls. And let us know if they both squat for you (like they would for a rooster).

Do you supervise when they free range? If you’re not actually out there with them, it could be that one or both are laying eggs outside the coop/run and you’re just not finding them. Because we have sooooooo many predators, my girls are only outside when I’m outside with them. I’ve got five three-month old Brahmas who will have to learn where to go to poop out my breakfast, but all my other girls lay in the nest boxes now.

 

[Burdoc]

Here’s some pictures, I think they squat for me? I’m not sure, I also tried checking bushes and stuff where they normally hang but didn’t find any. They’re super friendly tho, and like to climb on top of me and sit on my shoulders and lap.

 

[Burdoc]

I actually don’t have any recent pictures of Nettle or Cinnamon but when I get back I shall take some

 

[deidreg]

Here’s some pictures, I think they squat for me? I’m not sure, I also tried checking bushes and stuff where they normally hang but didn’t find any. They’re super friendly tho, and like to climb on top of me and sit on my shoulders and lap.

If you reach down for them from behind, they'll crouch down and put out their wings a bit. If they're not doing this yet, they're not ready to lay.

 

[Burdoc]

If you reach down for them from behind, they'll crouch down and put out their wings a bit. If they're not doing this yet, they're not ready to lay.

Dottie, my SS, started laying around that age too. She doesn’t lay every day. If you can, post some pics of the girls. And let us know if they both squat for you (like they would for a rooster).

Do you supervise when they free range? If you’re not actually out there with them, it could be that one or both are laying eggs outside the coop/run and you’re just not finding them. Because we have sooooooo many predators, my girls are only outside when I’m outside with them. I’ve got five three-month old Brahmas who will have to learn where to go to poop out my breakfast, but all my other girls lay in the nest boxes now.

View attachment 2790331

If you reach down for them from behind, they'll crouch down and put out their wings a bit. If they're not doing this yet, they're not ready to lay.

Here they are, nettle up top and cinnamon at the bottom

 

[aart]

I have 2 speckled Sussex hens that are 5-6 months old and one just started to lay. I hear they’re supposed to be laying around 4 months however and the one just started to lay a month late… and when she does lay eggs it’s like once every few days? I also hear they’re supposed to be good egg layers too?? She’s also very happy and is getting fed well and free ranges throughout the day. Im just confused now. I got some scratch grains to maybe help??

They don't read the books or forums or breed charts.
They'll lay when the are ready to lay.

No. Scratch grains will not help, if anything they can dilute the nutrition in the feed.
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

If you free range, she may be laying out in range area.
Might be time for an exam:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Then maybe:
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[Fieldsfive]

Hi. My Speckled Sussex is 7 1/2 months old and may have laid an egg once or twice but is essentially not laying. She is very disciplined about sitting in the nesting box every day, sometimes with my RIR (very good friends, those two) but often on her own, for over an hour, sometimes two, without ever producing an egg. She has done this for at least a month. My other three hens, all the same age, have been laying eggs for about 2 months, since mid-July. I have a Welsummer, a Buff Orpington, and the RIR. They all appear to be very healthy.
I assume, as Aart said, that she will lay when she is good and ready...?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi. My Speckled Sussex is 7 1/2 months old and may have laid an egg once or twice but is essentially not laying.

Yup. And occasionally you'll have a dud bird that doesn't lay or barely lays, though at 7 1/2 months she still has some time before I'd consider her a complete dud.