Can chickens be barren?

[janneluecke]

All my other girls started laying between 20 and 25 weeks old but my Americauna is not laying yet at 32 weeks. I did read that their normal is 25 to 30 weeks, a little older than most but I wonder if there are some chickens that are just barren and may never lay. Has anyone ever heard of this or had experience with this or Americaunas in general?

 

[BantammChick]

Do you let your chickens free range? If you do,she could be laying outside the coop somewhere. Ameracauna chickens are not supposed to lay every day anyway.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Some pullets take longer than others to start producing eggs, so it's still early times. I have had one pullet, years ago, who never produced an egg, and had a fatal uterine problem. Very rare, fortunately. Your girl is just late, or could she be hiding her eggs? If she's an Easter Egger, her eggs could be tan or otherwise not green, and you're just missing them. Mary

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!!

Free ranger and/or EE laying tan were my first thoughts too.
Can you post a full body pic of her?

You could always do a 'butt check' to see if she's laying or not.

Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones F-F) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.
(Spacing is relative with chickens size and humans finger size.)

 

[chickens really]

Not really barren although I had a Hen that only ever laid fairy eggs....Never a good layer...

 

[Kusanar]

I would say that it would be kinda hard for a chicken to be barren in the way that you are using it. A hen is like a woman, but instead of having "monthlies" a hen has "dailys" or at the most "weeklies" so, a barren woman typically still ovulates, but just doesn't get pregnant, a hen not laying eggs isn't ovulating either which should indicate a problem.

Now, being a late bloomer makes sense, but not living a life without ovulating (though it would be awesome if that could work with people)

 

[theoldchick]

That particular breed is known to be late starters. Make sure you do have a hen and not a rooster and like the others said you might have to find her hidey hole!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree...check for a hidden egg stash or if she might be laying brown eggs.

It also could be the shortening daylight hours of your location.

We are entering into fall/winter where many of us are getting shorter daylight.

It takes 12 hours of daylight to stimulate the pituitary gland enough to release hormones that cause ovulation. It takes 14 hours for steady laying.

Late blooming breeds, such as Easter Eggers, who mature in shortening day light hours can take even longer to kick in.

That means she may not lay until the end of January when daylight is starting to get longer again.

LofMc

 

[BantyChooks]

I had a pullet once that was nearly a year old before she laid her first egg. I've had several others that took 10mo.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Really depends on whether she is an Ameracauna or an EE. My EEs have always laid early & often, but each one is an individual. If you are assuming she isn't laying, because you are not getting green or blue eggs, that may also be the problem. She may be laying brown eggs.