9 month old Buff Orpingron not laying eggs

[gimmie birdies]

I have chicks that are 11 weeks old, if it was summer I would have let them mix with the older hens, but with our cold weather, I have been keeping them apart.

 

[Shelleyict]

I have searched and searched!

 

[Shelleyict]

My BO is one of six - different breeds. They've all been together since 2 days post-hatching. Now 8 months old. They have two runs and are let out daily from the runs for at least an hour each day. They also get Layena, oyster shell free choice, and mixed treats several times per week, usually squash, cuke, or warm oatmeal when it's cold. I've noticed my BO is kind of like the "guard dog" of the hen house, even though the bottom of the pecking order. She always seems to be on alert, scouring the woods around our land, and occasionally howling what seems to be a danger warning even though when we are all out with the chicks we can never see anything that could be a danger. She's not one to sit idly for a spell and I've wondered if that's why she's not ready to lay.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

This girl is the hen that is not afraid to be by herself. She will wonder off and she is also the hen that will go roost in the coop in the middle of the day. No eggs! I guess I just need to be patient with her

That's exactly what I'm doing - practicing patience and hoping nothing else is awry.

 

[Shelleyict]

Yes, a pic would be most helpful.

Might be time for an exam:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
Then might need to confine for a time.
Are your other birds laying in the coop nests?
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.

The other hens all lay in the neasting boxes. We have adequate ventilation. I've had the ceramic eggs in the boxes as well. This girl just isn't laying.

 

[Shelleyict]

No, what am I looking for?

 

[Mimi13]

Here is a pic of her I snapped today.

She’s a pretty girl.

 

[Mimi13]

Scroll back I posted a link.

I watched that video and was shocked that the man could get 4 of his rather large fingers between the bare butted bird’s pelvic bones. Really? Four? Wow!

 

[WindingRoad]

This girl is also at the bottom of the pecking order. She is also a bit skittish. Both of our other Orpingtons are still laying daily even in our Kansas winter conditions. We have 8 hens in the brooder that are 9 weeks old and will be moving to the coop in the next week or so and I'm afraid that will discourage her from laying even more with the new additions.

You scare me there for a minute when you said you had hens in a brooder. Until you said those "hens". are 9 months old. Not trying to be mean or rude. But "hens" are not hens until they are a year old. Any chick is a pullet until they are a year old. Just so all of us are on the same page. Give her time she'll lay on her schedule and not yours. My brown layers have just started laying again. Well just one ( coming out of hard molts) but ai don't know which one it is. Very small eggs 55grams when they were laying 65-70 grams. They egg factory has to get back up to snuff. SOON. Only get 3 sometimes 2 day from my 5 white leghorns. A couple of them molted very hard. These are animals not machines. They love you give them time. They will perform.

 

[WindingRoad]

My Hamburgs, at the bottom of the pecking order and also a skittish, seemed to take forever to start laying. I finally found a nest in the woods and realized that they had been laying but bullied by the other hens and not allowed in the nest boxes. I setup several potential nesting areas using straw bales in covered/safe areas where they hung out during the day, and put fake eggs in them. I also installed a few extra nest boxes in the coop, so that there were many more nesting areas available than should have been required for the size of my laying flock. The Hamburgs started laying in the makeshift nesting areas and, eventually, worked their way into the coop nest boxes.

Try putting up some curtains in front of the boxes that helped me with egg eating didn't cure it totally but a lot better. Out of sight out of mind.