Dud chicken??

[othercents]

Dud chicken?? I picked up these two chickens at the same time and one has been laying eggs for a month and the other doesn't. I think they are Orpingtons and I got them as chicks over 6 months ago. The one with a pink comb doesn't lay. I have two Cochens that don't lay yet either but I was told they take longer.

 

[Darklingstorm]

are you sure about her age?
From the pictures she looks lots younger than the other judging by comb and wattle sizes. She is an Orp.
If you got them at a feed store then they could be weeks apart.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

x2 she looks physically younger and you call tell she if not physically ready to lay yet from her comb size and coloring. Even so they can start laying anywhere from 4-8 months so she is not that late yet if she is late at all.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

She looks like she is 3-4 weeks away from laying. And from a feed store, yes they could be weeks apart.

 

[othercents]

I didn't get them from the feed store and they have been the same size the whole time from being a chick and in comparison to my Cochins they were one week ahead. I also calculated that they are 6 1/2 weeks and the other chicken started laying September 1st which would have been 5 months old. That is a significant amount of time however maybe I just got one early bloomer and another mid to late bloomer.

I do understand that the comb is small and light, but still wasn't sure if a barren chicken would ever grow a regular comb. Well at least we have already eaten a few dozen eggs from our one producer. Now just need to winterize their home and decide if I want supplemental morning light to keep them producing.

 

[CluckyCharms]

I don't know anything about chickens, particularly Orpingtons, so you can go ahead and read this with a grain of salt (I'm a complete newbie)

Have you physically watched the one with the humongous wattles lay an egg? Looks like a rooster?

 

[Lora Indy]

No, you don't have a barren chicken

They mature over a range of time. I have a flock of twenty 17 week old BOs. There are 2 at pol, another 7 that should start within a month and a few that show no wattles or comb growth at all.

In your photo the late bloomers wattles are just dropping and the top of the comb rising. I would say 4-6 weeks and she will give you eggs.

 

[BeulahBreezes]

Oh yes, I can certainly attest to having two of the the breed and age, yet one lays regularly,(for 2 months now), and the other has just barely laid a few......! I guess we just have to have patience.......~Beulah

 

[othercents]

Yes I'm positive about the one that is laying. The other two cochins have had larger combs and waddles than the Orphs at an earlier stage, but they still are not laying and I'm not expecting them to produce much anyways. The Orphs are my producers and hope to maintain 6-12 eggs a week with all four.