Blackstars not laying yet

[mamm7215]

Hi everyone. We have two beautiful black star pullets that we got at 8 weeks old in July. They are still not laying. Wondering if it is the fact that fall has hit. Our other three cuckoo marans have stopped laying too except for Serci, the dominant hen. Is this normal for later hatched birds? The stars should be laying every so often but so far nothing... Put a light in the coop a week ago.

 

[TheBeardie]

23 weeks? ( hopefully I got that right) I got my red star in March and she started laying in the last three days. My Easter Egger hasn't started laying yet, I got them both together, I can't wait till she starts laying. I got my chickens for pets the egg laying is just a plus. They will start laying When there ready. What do you feed them? Some things can help them start laying.

 

[mamm7215]

We got them as pets/ layers too. They are free to roam the yard and are on a 18 % layer pellet. They have oyster shell available at all times. We also treat them with banana, grapes, ground beef ( raw & like once a month ) pumpkin and of course the oatmeal yogurt mash with some scrambled egg. I remember when we got them we did the math and 24 weeks was the middle so September. I have crawled over an inspected every inch of the yard looking for a hidden nest and not found one yet. However it is dark cold and wet....

 

[TheBeardie]

Do you put them up at night? That's sorta how I found my chickens nest egg. I let my hens out and she started running to the other end of my house (the pen is on the end of my house). I didn't think anything of it because I thought she was going to the other chicken coop to say good morning like she always does. So i continued to feed, then I went to the other coop on the other side of my house . Then I heard the egg song and saw she got off a make sift nest that had three eggs in it.

 

[aart]

I'd coop them up for a few days:
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 for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.

The light can take weeks to have an effect:
Sometimes first year layers will lay all winter without supplemental lighting, sometimes they won't.
Older layers need 14-16 hours of light to lay regularly thru winter. Last winter I used a 40 watt incandescent light(this year I am using a CFL) that comes on early in the morning to provide 14-15 hours of light and they go to roost with the natural sundown. Last year I started the lighting increase a bit late(mid October), the light should be increased slowly, and the pullets didn't start laying until late December. Here's pretty good article on supplemental lighting. Some folks think that using lighting shortens the years a hen will lay, I don't agree with that theory but I also plan to cull my older hens for soup at about 3 years old.

 

[mamm7215]

Thanks everyone. The article on lighting was helpful too. I'm going to need a timer. Had the girls locked up in the coop/ run for the last week as heavy rains have hit. Even mid day is gloomy! Only the dominant bird is laying. Her sisters are starting to molt too so they definitely won't be laying for a while. Still curious about the two younger stars and their delay in egg production. Did notice that even though there is two sources of food and water, one inside the coop and one in the run, the two younger birds have a hard time getting their share. Seems there is always one older bird on guard over the feeding stations and chase the young ones off. Stupid birds. I now separate the young ones once a day so they can fill their crops in peace. Seems to be working as everyone is now roosting with loaded crops. I think I'll just leave them to what comes naturally this winter and see what happens!

 

[mamm7215]

Just an update. The black stars started laying with fury! Still the bottom of the flock but doing very well. They seem to be the meat eaters of the group. Only interested in high protein snacks. Eggs are very large and constant. One went broody in early spring but came back to normal in three days in the broody cage. Very funny personalities now that they are mature!