8 month old hens not laying

[MadisonOde]

Hey all,
I have two Orpington pullets that are eight months old and not laying yet. Reasons?

 

[Acre4Me]

I've not had Orpingtons before, but had dark brown leghorn females (3 of them) and they took forever to lay. 39 weeks, 44 weeks and not yet laying by the time we sold them at 45 weeks. Leghorns!!! So I get the concern regarding no eggs.

Do they get natural light for normal daytime hours? Are they let out of their coop early in the day and not shut in very early? Is there natural or artificial light that is in the coop during daytime hours. Laying is light dependent, so they do need a certain number of hours of light a day for laying purposes.

Good Luck.

 

[MadisonOde]

They go out at about 7 in the morning, and go in at about 7 or 8 at night. We have a light in there when the days are shorter in the winter, but not now.

 

[Acre4Me]

Does the coop have a window in it?

My coop has a window and 2 large side vents only covered with HWC, so natural light in the coop from sunrise to sunset even when locked in the coop. So, if your coop has a window or similar, they are getting full hours of daylight. We have electric in our coop and have the light on a timer, so as daylight lessens, we can provide the extra light on a regular basis. Chickens need 14 hours of light a day to lay.

Your birds could be late to lay, but 8 months is really late, especially with having gone through lengthening daylight hours since winter solstice. Your birds could have a laying issue, but less likely for that to be the reason with 2 of them not laying.

Are their combs and wattles bright red or only pink? Do the girls squat for you when you are near? Do you ever find them in the nest boxes..even just walking in then out?

 

[aart]

They go out at about 7 in the morning, and go in at about 7 or 8 at night.

Might they be laying out in range area?
Do you have other birds that are laying...where they are supposed to?

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 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.

 

[MadisonOde]

We have a backyard coop with a big run, which I’ve looked through but couldn’t find anything. We don’t have any current layers but we did have one a couple of weeks ago that was laying in the boxes.

 

[MadisonOde]

We have two bigger windows, their combs are bright red, they don’t really squat, they just run.

 

[MadisonOde]

I did just go out and take a picture of them, and compared to about a month ago their combs are definitely redder. One is lighter than the other. Here are both photos. So maybe they’re just really late?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A common cause of chickens not laying its the molt. At that age where you are this is not likely at all. But with chickens anything is possible. Stress may have kicked off a molt. But unless you see lots of feathers floating around, no. i'm mentioning this mainly to get it out of the way.

A common reason for chickens to not be laying is that they really are, but they are hiding a nest. Aart covered that. Butt check is also a good idea. That is a lot more accurate than any behaviors like squatting or appearance like bright red combs.

Is something getting the eggs? Many critters eating eggs leave evidence, shells or a wet spot. It's possible the chickens would clean up egg shells but they don't always. The critters that typically take eggs whole and leave no trace are snakes, canines, and humans.

I've had a problem with snakes, I don't think it is your problem. Snakes eat a few eggs (how many depends on size), go away for a few days to digest them before they come back for more. With snakes it's every three or four days you have a deficit, not consistently every day.

If it were a fox or coyote, you'd probably be missing chickens, not eggs. But sometimes a dog will eat eggs and not harm chickens. Does a dog have access?

I know it is creepy but I'll lave the thought of humans up to you.

So, what can you do? If they were ranging a common method is to confine them to the coop or coop/run to see what happens. Sounds like this is not a god option for you. Another thing you can do is to take an egg or two and put a mark on it, then leave it in a nest in the coop. If it disappears something is taking them.

I've had pullets not lay until they were 9 months old and they started the first week of December, the shortest days or the year. I do not use artificial lights to help them lay. Those three broke all the rules which shows there are no rules, just tendencies. I understand your frustration. Those pullets were how I introduced green and blue eggs to my egg basket. Their daughters typically started laying at 5 to 6 months like my other chickens so it doesn't even sound genetic. I have no idea what happened.

With Orpington I would expect them to start laying earlier. But you only have two. You have to have enough for averages to mean much and you don't. You may have just gotten unlucky and have two late starters. Did you get them from a breeder as opposed to a hatchery? Hatchery birds tend to start laying early. Unless the breeder specifically breeds for early laying, breeder birds can start later.

I wish you luck.

 

[MadisonOde]

I don’t think it’s a predator, we’re in town, I haven’t seen any, although we could have raccoons, I know they’re sneaky. However, I don’t think one would be able to get in, you have to lift up the latch and slide it. Although, now that I think about it twice I’ve gone out in the morning and the human door to the coop has been wide open. I swear that wouldn’t have been me, as I wouldn’t be able to close it properly without latching it, and I’m pretty sure once I hadn’t even opened the door when I put them in... I will do a butt check today. We did get them from a breeder. I will try leaving an egg in there today. If it’s a store bought egg, will it go bad?