Anyone ever have a hen that never lays?

[Nicole01]

My Wyandotte is well over a year old. She has never laid an egg. She sits in the box, kicks her feet and moves in a circle, but never once has she laid.

What do I do with her? She's on the left. She's not very nice with the other hens either.

 

[Nicole01]

Funny, her ear color use to be dark red, now its a whiter color.

 

[Lollipop]

Yup, I've had 3 in my lifetime. One was a battery hen, when I was a kid. Didn't lay for over a year, so I butchered her. She was full of eggs in various stages of developement and would have started in the next day or so. the next one, stopped laying for about 8 months, so I gave her to a friend who said he would try and revive her. Eventuelly she layed 2 eggs and a predator got her. Which brings me to the one I have now. She layed a few very small eggs when she was young, then stopped. She is now 10 years old and is my step sons pet. Hopefully she will croak soon and I won't be blamed...........Pop

 

[speckledhen]

I have a 6 1/2 year old hatchery Buff Orp who quit laying a year-and-a-half ago. Nothing seems to be wrong with her, just ran out of eggs I think. She is my last remaining original hen and will live out her life here. I don't care if she lays another egg as long as she is healthy.

 

[Nicole01]

I wonder if mine is healthy? Maybe laying internally? We thought about eating her.

 

[BantamoftheOpera]

I have a silkie who just turned a year old who still hasn't layed. I've stopped expecting it, she's special and seems to be fully healthy.

 

[Nicole01]

My Wyandotte is kinda nasty to the others. She's one of my feather pickers to the other hens. It's a bully issue since I free range daily and my coop and run are well big enough on rainy days. I might try and rehome her too. I'm just not sure she's not an internal layer since she sits in the box and does the egg laying routine. She does not sing the egg song, but not all mine do. I'm just not sure what to do. We had to buy more hens due to running out of eggs from our family of 5.lol. I really don't want to keep a non laying girl that's mean to the others. I most likely will not get another Wyandotte in the future.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, if she's a problem, you are allowed to cull her from your flock.

I've had several hatchery Wyandottes. Four of them died from internal laying, except two younger ones I sold, but they may have as well later on. Yours is a bit young for that, though one of mine had egg yolk peritonitis at a year and a half old-she was laying, however.

Wyandottes can be bossy in the flock, in my experience, certainly not pushovers. One of mine was head hen for the last part of her life. She was a sweetheart, though, very dignified.



Quote: Then, there's your answer.

 

[mgroza]

i've got somke columbian w. and they lay small eggs compared to my other breeds, so i will probably eat them this fall.

 

[RiddleMe]

I've got a splash ameraucana (breeder not hatchery, just over 1 year old, and she's never laid an egg. I thought at one point she maybe she was just laying a pale brown egg, cause I kept catching her in the nest boxes, and she'd be in there for a while on an almost daily basis then come out singing an egg song. But I isolated her for a week and nothing (and she's not an egg eater either). Only reason I still have her is she's a total sweetheart, doesn't mind being petted and picked up, even by my DS, and will actually come running to hop in a lap when called. But if she weren't so nice, I would no longer be uneducated in the art of butchering a chicken.