Delaware won't lay

[Nardo]

So some major changes in your flock...could have thrown her for a loop. New info from first post, which stated 5 hens IIRC, a new cockerel and 3 chicks too(how old?)!

In my article, the skeletal illustration show the pelvic bones as F-F, they are on either side of the vent...labeled in the info-graphic as 'pubic'.

Here's a vid that shows it pretty well on an older hen with a bare butt.

Probably the hardest part is getting the feathers out of the way to see the vent and go from there.

Oh wow, I was doing it all wrong. Thanks for the video. Now I will touch/measure again today.
So I had three hens. Then I got three chicks in March/April (IDK for sure) and one turned out to be a cockerel. So total now is 6 chickens (my max for code restrictions) of which 5 are hens.

 

[Nardo]

OK. I went home at lunch and felt between her pelvic points, which was really easy because they are so close together. I can fit one finger, maybe 1 1/2 fingers between them. More like one big finger with extra room. Narrow little hen with a fluffy butt. So she officially is not laying any eggs. Freeloading and being a diva. Maybe she'll snap out of it when she gets used to the newer flock members or it cools off. 60 days +/- until we have low temps under 70. Thanks for coaching me.

 

[aart]

More like one big finger with extra room. Narrow little hen with a fluffy butt. So she officially is not laying any eggs.

Did you compare the the others?

 

[Nardo]

Did you compare the the others?

Yes, they have more room on either side or, maybe better to say, between the points. The Welsummer is very spacious, and she lays 6 days out of 7. The Australorpe was a little less ample, and she lays maybe 4-5 days a week (she is almost 5 years old) and the two youngest are tighter together yet, but even they have more spread than the Delaware.

 

[aart]

Great!
Well, great you figured out the butt check...
....not great that you have a squatting, red combed hen that is isn't laying.

Hard to say what her problem is, she producing hormones but not ova??<shrugs>.
If you do end up slaughtering her for the pot, you might find clues inside.

 

[Nardo]

Great!
Well, great you figured out the butt check...
....not great that you have a squatting, red combed hen that is isn't laying.
Hard to say what her problem is, she producing hormones but not ova??<shrugs>.
If you do end up slaughtering her for the pot, you might find clues inside.

Squatting, red combed, getting into the nest, singing the egg song hen that isn't laying. Maybe one for the books. I will keep watching her for signs of (other) illness. If she starts looking poorly, or acting as if she feels bad, then I'll be compelled to take more action. I'm hoping she reverts to laying. . .

 

[RWise]

Dont count on it, my other Delaware never laid an egg, she would go in the nest set there for hours, get off singing and nothing in the nest. I got the idea she was eating her eggs, maybe soft shells. I put her in a pad, left her there and the same thing. So I put a nice brown egg in her nest. The poor dear stood there beside it for about 24 hours. I thought she was going to eat it but never touched it, and never went back to the nest, she is no longer here,,,,

 

[Citychickengal]

I have the same problem, and I’ve never been able to find anything that tells me what the issue might be!! Your post makes me feel a lot less crazy!
Only difference is my hen doesn’t bother to sit in the nesting boxes. She’s a 3/3.5 yr old RIR. I’ve had her very nearly a year and she’s never laid an egg! I know because my flock is small enough to tell. She sounds exactly like your hen; red combed, not ill in any manner, mid range in the pecking order & mean to anyone lower than her, and she sings the egg song butshe doesn’t lay eggs! She’s never bothered to even sit like she wants to, but she doesn’t roost at night, she sits in the nesting boxes. Only hen I have out of 6 to do so. She’s had plenty of time to settle in; I got her & a friend last October, and didn’t get any new hens until March. By now she’s more than used to them, so idk. She’s my mystery non-layer!

 

[aart]

.... She’s a 3/3.5 yr old RIR. I’ve had her very nearly a year and she’s never laid an egg! .....

Was probably why she was sold/given away.

....but she doesn’t roost at night, she sits in the nesting boxes. Only hen I have out of 6 to do so. She’s had plenty of time to settle in; I got her & a friend last October,....

If you have enough roost space, this habit could be changed with some effort on your part.

 

[Citychickengal]

Was probably why she was sold/given away.


If you have enough roost space, this habit could be changed with some effort on your part.

The guy I got her from honestly thought she was laying since her comb is so red, but he had too many hens to know for sure which were laying and which weren’t.

And yes, I suppose I could break her of the nest box habit, but she’s not messy, and does roost on occasion if she feels like it, so it’s kind of no harm done and I’ve always let her sleep where she feels like it.

Either way, I’ve never figured out the lack of eggs!