Brahma's not laying yet

[orfan40]

In May we brought two Brahma chicks into our chicken world. We have four others (a RI red, a NH red, a Barred Rock and an Americana) that are now 2 yrs old. We kept the babies apart from the rest of the flock but they could see each other through chicken fencing. We integrated about 3 months ago when the babies were about 5 months old. The younger hens have their own coop but all run around in the same area during the day. I'm wondering why we haven't had any eggs from the young hens yet. They have their own nesting box in their coop. They get laying pellets but just started giving them grit and oyster shells. There is an issue with the Reds as they seem to chase/bully the Brahma's even though the Brahma's are bigger but there is room in the run for them to avoid 'situations'. Any thoughts?

 

[azygous]

Brahma pullets require until around nine months to mature enough for light to trigger their hormones. However, if they reach maturity during the shortest days of the year, as we are now experiencing in the northern hemisphere, you probably won't see eggs from your pullets until after January when the days getting longer will hopefully be enough to trigger those hormones.

The Brahmas will be more likely to stand up for themselves after they reach point of lay.

 

[orfan40]

Thank you for your response. I was thinking the short days might be one of the reasons. We did get a pinkish large egg once that didn't match any that we get from our other hens so got hopeful then. I love these Brahma's! They are so docile and follow me everywhere but aren't prone to liking any touching. We didn't exactly socialize them well but are able to get near them and catch them when needed.