Buff Orphingtons egg laying

[petertmlnsn]

Hello all from Australia. I am new to BYC so still learning how it all works.

Ok I have 3 Buff Orphington Hens aged 8 - 10 months old. I am not getting any eggs, off 2 of them, the other 1 is however laying well. Summer just started here. How come the other two are not laying? surly they are old enought now and the rooster ( Rodney ) is quite active with them, but no eggs. They have good food, water & free range everyday. I have searched high and low for secret laying spot and have also keep them locked up for 3 days but nothing. they have a nice big pen and good hutches ( old push mower catchers )

They are however sharing pen with ducks. - 2 female Mallards, I Mallard drake, 1 Muscovy drake, 2 female Peking & 1 Peking drake.
They all get along though and as I stated i of the hens is laying so why wouldn't the other 2? also not only are they not laying but I have yet to receive my 1st egg off them!

Really would love some explanation, tried the golf ball trick, is it possible that some chickens just don't lay eggs?

also to be honest the duck are not really laying either...

Thanks for any help pete.

 

[jonsccm]

I have 3 and the first one started laying last week at 30 and 1/2 weeks. The others are still not yet.... I have no idea why. They were about to be meat birds until the one started laying so she bought the others a few weeks.
They are bound to lay sometime. I've never seen a hen that never lays

 

[Happy Chooks]

They are probably just slower to mature. They should be starting up soon. Are their combs/wattles and around the eye really red?

And welcome to BYC!

 

[petertmlnsn]

Thanks for the welcome, yeah the combs are really red, and they are pretty much mature, going by looks anyway.
They must just be late comers, I will wait a while longer.
Do you think the duck / chicken ratio is okay? or could this affect possible egg production? Personally I think there are to many male ducks ( 3 ) so one is called dinner and will be eaten at Christ mas.

 

[jonsccm]

Thanks for the welcome, yeah the combs are really red, and they are pretty much mature, going by looks anyway.
They must just be late comers, I will wait a while longer.
Do you think the duck / chicken ratio is okay? or could this affect possible egg production? Personally I think there are to many male ducks ( 3 ) so one is called dinner and will be eaten at Christ mas. 

I do not have any ducks right now but when I was young my family had chickens, ducks, geese, turkey's, and rabbits that would all forage together. And mostly lived together. At night we put the turkeys in there own coop but what the others did did not matter. As far as I know are chickens always laid just like they were meant to.
If they hatched a bit late in the year I've been told that starting into cold wintery weather early in their life's can delay laying. But I don't know if that is true. I hope some others here can help us learn more about it.

Please keep us updated when they start to lay. I'm still waiting for my last two to start.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Thanks for the welcome, yeah the combs are really red, and they are pretty much mature, going by looks anyway.
They must just be late comers, I will wait a while longer.
Do you think the duck / chicken ratio is okay? or could this affect possible egg production? Personally I think there are to many male ducks ( 3 ) so one is called dinner and will be eaten at Christ mas.

You need to be careful with the ducks. Drakes have "parts" for mating. Roosters do not have "parts", mating is just a touch. So a drake can injure/kill a hen by mating with her. Also, ducks are messy and chickens do not do well with wet housing.

 

[petertmlnsn]

Thanks for the advice, I keep the coop well cleaned and the chickens seem fine, just no eggs!!! I do have a chihuahua that barks at them and chases them when he goes out for a wee, I don't think this upsets the chooks to much thou as they just chash him and sometimes they work as a team and back him in the corner of the pen and then go in for the kill! so I think the dog often comes off second best.

But on a serious note, could this be affecting their laying? As I just don't understand nearly a year old and I still have yet to get my first egg off two of them.

 

[dl9976]

They will lay...some are just slower than others don't worry the eggs will come...