8 month old chickens not laying

[patrickfoy1]

Hi Y'all......

I'm hoping someone can answer this question.... I have 5 Rhoad Island Reds.... they were all from the same lot.
They are 8 months old....three of them are laying, two are not.... is this normal?
Sorry for the stupid question for all you experts out there....but I'm just learning...

Thank you for your time..... and suggestions...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not stupid and not completely out of the ordinary because they approached laying age after the summer solstice.
As days get shorter, the hormones promoting production are suppressed. As days get longer, production is stimulated.
I bet if you add a light to the coop in the morning increasing day length by a couple hours or so, they'll all be laying in short order.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

It is not a stupid question. We all have to learn somehow!

It is normal. They are individuals. And as stated could be and likely is the time of year.

If you don't need the extra production, I would skip the light. I like to let nature take it's course. But if you need to, do as @ChickenCanoe suggested. The only thing is you need to do it in half hour increments and add the light to morning hours not night, So it doesn't switch of suddenly and leave them stuck off their roost. It's my understanding that just adding a couple hours of light all the sudden may not have the intended effect.

I know it can be frustrating. Good luck!

 

[patrickfoy1]

Thank you all for the quick response.... I'm trying to be patience, one chicken has been laying since 6 months.... the other two started together on the same day at 61/2 months.... my two hold outs are not acting strange or anything like that...just not interested in laying...funny... my red bird( red leg band) makes a lot of noise when she lays... Purple bird always walks up the entrance to the hen house and looks in at her..... I think maybe she's thinking, If it hurts that bad, I ain't having nothing to do with it...LOL

I appreciate both comments....

 

[EggSighted4Life]

My family like to joke about showing the non layers the ax to see if that gets them motivated.

 

[patrickfoy1]

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

It is not a stupid question. We all have to learn somehow!

It is normal. They are individuals. And as stated could be and likely is the time of year.

If you don't need the extra production, I would skip the light. I like to let nature take it's course. But if you need to, do as @ChickenCanoe suggested. The only thing is you need to do it in half hour increments and add the light to morning hours not night, So it doesn't switch of suddenly and leave them stuck off their roost. It's my understanding that just adding a couple hours of light all the sudden may not have the intended effect.

I know it can be frustrating. Good luck!

Good advice. I meant to say that slowly incrementing light works better.
Adding in the morning is best but the first time I added light, the only timer I had was a Christmas light timer so the lights came on at dusk and off a set time later(2,4 or 6 hrs.). They quickly learned to be on the roost in time for lights out.

Thank you all for the quick response.... I'm trying to be patience, one chicken has been laying since 6 months.... the other two started together on the same day at 61/2 months.... my two hold outs are not acting strange or anything like that...just not interested in laying...funny... my red bird( red leg band) makes a lot of noise when she lays... Purple bird always walks up the entrance to the hen house and looks in at her..... I think maybe she's thinking, If it hurts that bad, I ain't having nothing to do with it...LOL

I appreciate both comments....

I get the legband color names. All my birds are black so I can't really tell them apart. They have numbered leg bands and the colors are for the year they hatched. That way I can quickly look at a bird and know their age.

Once they mature sexually (dictated by light) they can't help but ovulate. You can check the distance between the pelvic bones to see if they are ready. There needs to be a minimum of 2 fingers distance between them or egg laying is impossible. Redder, larger combs and wattles is another sign.

An advantage of onset of lay being delayed is that
1: their bodies are better prepared and problems like egg binding are less common.
2: the first eggs will be much bigger.

The breed I raise first pullet eggs are usually around 50+ grams (some smaller) I have 3 pullets that just started laying and began at 27 weeks. Their eggs are ranging between 60 and 70 grams.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Good advice. I meant to say that slowly incrementing light works better.
Adding in the morning is best but the first time I added light, the only timer I had was a Christmas light timer so the lights came on at dusk and off a set time later(2,4 or 6 hrs.). They quickly learned to be on the roost in time for lights out.


I get the legband color names. All my birds are black so I can't really tell them apart. They have numbered leg bands and the colors are for the year they hatched. That way I can quickly look at a bird and know their age.

Once they mature sexually (dictated by light) they can't help but ovulate. You can check the distance between the pelvic bones to see if they are ready. There needs to be a minimum of 2 fingers distance between them or egg laying is impossible. Redder, larger combs and wattles is another sign.

An advantage of onset of lay being delayed is that
1: their bodies are better prepared and problems like egg binding are less common.
2: the first eggs will be much bigger.

The breed I raise first pullet eggs are usually around 50+ grams (some smaller) I have 3 pullets that just started laying and began at 27 weeks. Their eggs are ranging between 60 and 70 grams.

I know you usually have very good detail info and figured it was just accidentally left out.

My pullet eggs are usually around 30 - 35 grams, so that is a big difference. And definitely helps to diminishes any loss felt by them laying later instead of earlier.

60 and 70 grams is very nice!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I know you usually have very good detail info and figured it was just accidentally left out.

My pullet eggs are usually around 30 - 35 grams, so that is a big difference. And definitely helps to diminishes any loss felt by them laying later instead of earlier.

60 and 70 grams is very nice!

I get lazy too. I need to make a file of some of the information I post so I don't have to rewrite it every time the same question is asked.

The eggs are so big I may be tempted to violate my own rule against ever incubating pullet eggs.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I get lazy too. I need to make a file of some of the information I post so I don't have to rewrite it every time the same question is asked.

The eggs are so big I may be tempted to violate my own rule against ever incubating pullet eggs.

Lazy?!

Sometimes I don't even answer just because I don't have all the time I need to include the details. A file is a good idea.

I also don't incubate pullet eggs or early season, just beginning again. How long after laying begins do you wait?