Can my pullets be under stress

[kat79]

I have 6:1 pullets to rooster ratio. The pullets are 20 weeks and have not started laying as yet, but should be anytime ( RSL) even though the roo (amber sexlink) is going today is it possible my girls could be under stress??

 

[Ninja Chicken]

It may just be that they aren't mature enough to lay yet. Do you know their breed? 20 weeks is usually the earliest any hen will lay. Some take much longer!

 

[kat79]

Their red sexlink So they should start soon .. in no hurry for them to lay but I read you need a 10:1 chicken to rooster ratio and thought they might be under some stress because he want let up to the point I have to seperate him from the girls.

 

[Den in Penn]

If it was sounding like a riot out there then I would say stress was a factor. If the rooster was still a cockerel and didn't quite have the hang of it yet, then there may been some stress. Being pullets, as Ninja Chicken said they may just not be mature enough yet. At 20 weeks they are right at the point where I would expect them to start any day. Before that it would just be a pleasant surprise, even if they are sex links.

 

[kat79]

Thanks you just confirmed what I was thinking...there is the "get of me" squawks or riot as you call it. So I am sure you right. Thanks ninja and den in penn