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.