Almost 6 months and still no eggs!!!! What should I be doing?

[Spoiltchickens]

Hi Everyone,
I need some help, I have 2 gorgeous hens that are around 5 1/2 months now and Im still yet to have them produce an egg for me.
They are on a diet of laying mash with grains, they have free pickings of shell grit, they roam free in my back yard and get all sorts of food scraps plus I also buy them fresh corn to eat all the time as it seems to be their favourite. They have a coop with two nesting boxes that i replace with straw as they tend to usually eat it.
I've raised these girls from day olds so they shouldn't be stressed and I know they aren't scared of us or my cats as they follow each other around the yard. ( thats very sweet to watch).
I'm in Queensland Australia and its summer here ATM, so there is plenty of daylight and I wouldn't think its too hot for them because I can hear other chooks in the neighbourhood singing their "egg songs" everyday.

I'm really at a loss of what else I need to do for them.
So if anyone has any ideas for me I would really appreciate the help and advice.

I believe they are Barnevelda crossed with RIR.

 

[Pinky]

Sometimes it takes longer than normal for hens to lay. Is it possible that they are hiding eggs when they free range in the yard?

 

[Spoiltchickens]

I don't think they are hiding any eggs, they mainly hang out on my verandah, they like to see where I am and like to sit on the front door mat or cuddle together in the cats bed. I've searched everywhere in hopes that they may have hidden some but No

I'm at a loss now as to what else to do.

 

[auto5man]

I have one of my six hens who is about seven months old and still not laying. The rest of my little flock of six have been laying for at least 2 months...wish she'd hurry up too.

 

[DanEP]

Your girls are still young so just give them some time. Some pullets start at 5 months some may take 7 months to start . Different chicken start at different times thats normal.
The only thing I might change is the layer, i'd hold off on that till they start laying. Grower or flock raiser will be just fine for now and won't hurt them after they start to lay either. When I have new girls in with the older girls I just feed everybody grower and have oyster shell on the side. Also try not to give too many treats as treat may make for happy chickens but not so much for eggs or healthy chickens.
They will lay but in their own time try to be patient.

 

[Spoiltchickens]

could I maybe mix the layer mash and grower?
I've just bought a new bag of feed for them and I havent got a lot of storage space.
I will lay off on giving them treats for a while, they won't know whats hit them but the will just have to toughen up or give me some eggs i suppose. LOL

 

[DanEP]

Some treats are fine just not more than 10% of their food should be treats.greens are good you just have to make sure the protein levels don't drop because their still growing. Oh and protein can come from many different sources such as grower feed, meal worms,crickets just about any meat. I had to stop using tuna in the live trap because two of my girls just love tuna
As for mixing the layer with grower I wouldn't unless my girls were really close to laying as in really red comb and waddles the calcium in layer is not good for growing chicks. Just keep the layer someplace cool and dry and it should be ok till you get eggs. Once you start getting eggs go ahead and mix it. Most of the time I don't feed layer I feed grower to everybody with oyster shell on the side. The grower cost a little bit more than layer but the extra protein keeps the girls in good shape and it seems like they eat a little bit less so the added cost seems to even out. One thing i did track last year was egg production on layer and on grower trying each for 1 month at a time and the grower won out by a margin of about 20%. This was with about 30 layers from 9 months to 18 months old. I don't know if one try really proved anything to me but it made me want to try it again to see if I get the same results.

 

[newchicksnducks]

I think the "average" age of laying is about 20 weeks...umm about 5+ months old. And for every early layer there has to be a delayed layer...I would say your girls are right on track. Give them a few more weeks - or even a couple of months. You'll be enjoying eggs over easy in no time!

Oh yes, and the time of year can make a difference. Longer daylight hours seems to "speed up" the laying. Those who mature during the winter often hold off on laying until spring.

 

[SteveBaz]

First off Welcome to the BYC

I was at your point for months it seemed and then all of a sudden I found 2 eggs I over looked. I was shocked bc it was from one of my youngest then all of a sudden there were more each day and I go 2 girls going right now. I got frustrated and its all about being patient. Stay the course you seem to be doing the right things. I re-arranged the nests here is what I did and I tharted getting eggs. I am not saying it works but I am saying I got eggs after this.

What it looked like


I changed it into a more organized way

 

[Spoiltchickens]

WOW!!! you guys are so great!

And a special thank you to Steve for your photos, I was hearing my Lacey girl carrying on this morning with lots of noise in their coop, I was hoping this was her "an eggs is coming" song and dance, but it turns out that she was just letting me know that she wanted to be let out of the coop because I'd had a sleepin this morning! LOL they are funny girls.

I will rearrange their nesting boxes inside the coop today, and i've just made a couple of nesting spots for them underneath a table on the verandah in the spot they always seem to sit and while away the day.

Patience has never really been one of my best attributes so i'm grateful for the lesson that these ladies are teaching me. hahahaha

I'll get back on down to my produce store and get some grower feed again and start them back on that. Is there a trick that anyone knows to stop it caking up in the grass where the chook's spill it? It goes mouldy and smelly very quickly because we get alot of dew overnight on the ground.