At what age do Black Australorps begin to lay their first eggs???

[mlejneks]

Here is my beautiful Australorp, Mildred. She is 38 weeks old today. We are still waiting for her to begin laying. She is the only Australorp we have. All of our other hens started laying between 20 and 27 weeks.

Based on her appearance, it seems to me like she should be laying, so I wonder if something is wrong. Her waddles seem fully developed, but her comb is pretty short still....

She seems happy and healthy overall. She does have one birth defect. You can see on the full body picture that her toes are badly crooked. They started to twist when she was a week or two old. I tried to splint them straight, but it didn't work. She seems to manage just fine with her toes this way.

Any thoughts out there on when she may start to lay?

Thank you.

 

[Soapfreak]

Melejneks, mine is 35 weeks tomorrow, still no squat or eggs. My other breed chickens started at 20 weeks. ugh....

 

[mlejneks]

thanks for the reply Soapfreak.

I have an update on Mildred, she has started to lay now!

During week 39 I saw her squat and get "mounted" by one of my bossy older hens. I knew this was a good sign. Later that week I saw her go in to both of the two nest boxes. She re-worked the nesting material in both nests that day. A couple days later, she layed her first egg! She is not a rock star just yet, but has layed probably 6 to 8 eggs in total.

Hopefully your hen will start soon too.

 

[thisistricky]

I am driving myself to the gas pipe trying to decide if I have Australorp hens or roosters. I have two and have gone back and forth thinking all combinations. I tentatively think I have one rooster and one hen but it could go either way. One has a very tall comb that flops over so I think that is the rooster. The other has a comb that is just pokey looking. The thing is that they are the exact same size as each other. I bought them when they were four months old (supposedly) and they are now 8 1/2 months old. I don't understand how they are neither laying nor crowing. That is 34 weeks old! From this thread, I have read many others who waited until almost 40 weeks to see an egg. Are these notoriously late to mature? Anyone willing to give their opinion on rooster or hen?

I think this is the rooster:





Here are both, maybe the hen in back? Rooster in front?


Hopefully a hen?


Anyone with this breed would have more knowledge than I. If you're in the mood to take a guess, I'd be most humored!

 

[Bridebeliever]

I would say they are both pullets. Other than that comb I'm not seeing roo'ness.

 

[song of joy]

I am driving myself to the gas pipe trying to decide if I have Australorp hens or roosters. I have two and have gone back and forth thinking all combinations. I tentatively think I have one rooster and one hen but it could go either way. One has a very tall comb that flops over so I think that is the rooster. The other has a comb that is just pokey looking. The thing is that they are the exact same size as each other. I bought them when they were four months old (supposedly) and they are now 8 1/2 months old. I don't understand how they are neither laying nor crowing. That is 34 weeks old! From this thread, I have read many others who waited until almost 40 weeks to see an egg. Are these notoriously late to mature? Anyone willing to give their opinion on rooster or hen?

I think this is the rooster:





Here are both, maybe the hen in back? Rooster in front?


Hopefully a hen?


Anyone with this breed would have more knowledge than I. If you're in the mood to take a guess, I'd be most humored!

They are both pullets, but if I'm seeing the pictures clearly, neither one is a pure black australorp. A black australorp will have clean (non-feathered) legs and feet; an iridescent green sheen to the black feathers; a medium-size, upright comb; red ear lobes; and the bottom of the feet will be a cream color. These hens appear to have feathered legs and feet, little if any sheen to the feathers, and a large, floppy comb. It may be the light in the photo, but the ear lobe on the bottom hen looks whitish. They may be black australorp crossed with another breed(s). I'm thinking perhaps black australorp x marans mix, as marans usually have feathered legs and feet, and floppy combs.

Black australorp hens should be laying by now, but perhaps the breed with which it is mixed is slower to lay.

 

[thisistricky]

Thanks for your input, I really hope you are right!!

 

[thisistricky]

You are absolutely right that they have feathered legs. I really have no idea what their heritage is. They were sold to me as Black Australorps but truthfully, I don't care at all. I just want hens that will lay eggs so they could be any combination and I would be happy as long as they are hens. I am very pleased and enthused that two opinions have concurred that I have two hens. Very exciting. Now if they will just lay. They certainly are late bloomers!! Thank you very much for your input!

 

[song of joy]

You're welcome. Mixed-breed hens can end up being good layers, and some will go broody, which is great if you want to hatch eggs or raise chicks someday.

Also, if they're free-ranging, it's entirely possible they are laying already and hiding the eggs. If that's a possibility, you may want to keep them confined to the coop and run for 3 or 4 days to see for sure if they're laying or not.

Just curious - do they squat down when you approach them or when you reach down to pet them? If so, that's a sign that they're already laying or will begin laying soon. However, not all hens will exhibit this squatting behavior.

 

[thisistricky]

Wow. All super interesting information! Thank you so much! They are in what I would call a "pen". The are confined to an area that is about 1,000 square feet. They love to hide under the low boughs of a scraggly pine tree (we live in AZ where pines are awful looking trees). It has never occurred to me that they could be laying already. Wouldn't I be shocked?!! (and thrilled). And yes, I do feel like when they get startled at least one squats down like she is trying to be invisible. I thought it was a defense mechanism but maybe it is this squatting behavior. Oh I would be so excited to get eggs from them. Gosh but it takes a long time to get eggs from these little lovlies. I really appreciate your information.

As long as you are answering my questions - may I ask another? I have them in an area where we have small landscape rock and it has worried me that they don't like the rock. I have pulled the rock away in a small area but then they seem to pay zero attention to that area. I also build them a sand box which they only walk through but never have a sand bath like they are supposed to. Do you think the rock is a terrible idea or no big deal? I don't want to put them in a bad environment but I don't want to redo it all if it doesn't matter. Just wondering.

Thanks

Kathleen