EE's not laying, they are seven months old and never laid an egg.

[tinamommy727]

Hello, has anyone else had a problem with their EE's not laying? I have had them since they were chicks and all of the other chickens have been laying for the last two months but not these two hens. They have plenty of water and good food. Don't have any problems with disease. They are somewhat on the dominant side of the pecking order. Just don't know why they aren't laying. Any advice?

 

[cafarmgirl]

This may seem like a dumb question but it's the first place to start. Are you 100% sure they are hens?

 

[donrae]

Do you have pictures?

Do you free range?

 

[Cindy in PA]

Are you sure they are not laying? They may be laying brown eggs like all the others.

 

[tinamommy727]

Yep they are hens, they are free range to a point, I have an half an acre yard that there is not many places for them to hide their eggs at. I feed them mash grain from the brewery and Purina layer pellets. They also get all the leftovers in the house. All of the hens come to the coop to lay their eggs and I have found the EE's in the baskets but never laying anything. I'm stumped!

 

[write2caroline]

Are their combs bright red? Like signal light cherry bright red? If they are then your girls are ovulating.
Some breeds take longer to mature than others. If they are not hiding eggs then they may be near laying age. You might set up some nice nest boxes in the coop area, add some golf balls. They can't tell the difference between golf balls and eggs. Hens will lay their eggs in places other hens have layed eggs so a nice fluffy nest with 3 or 4 golf balls, and the girls are hiding eggs on you then this just might entice them to lay eggs closer to the coops than in the wild. They will hide eggs in tree stumps or any secluded spot. You might find that if you limit their ranging they will lay where you can find the eggs. I have even had funny clucks lay eggs right in the middle of a run with no reason as to why.

Caroline

 

[Shades of Blue]

my EE girls took longer to start laying than the other breeds. I did notice the combs got brighter in colour and when I walked past them they started squatting. Right after those things happened.....with in a week or two they were laying eggs.

 

[dwalters]

In my experience my two EEs just don't lay as well as my other chicks. I have one that lays about every other day and one that lays about twice a week. This has always been their routine for almost two years now. Maybe its just mine though.

 

[tinamommy727]

Okay, one has a bright red comb the other is just slightly red. They are laying in the boxes just nothing comes of it. I did go put some golf balls in. I've had EE's before and it took them until they were about 6 months old to lay. I am just a little mystified as to why they weren't laying. Thank you all for your advice. anything else you can think of please let me know!

 

[tinamommy727]

Okay all!! They have started laying. They are laying the prettiest blue green egg. I will have to take some pictures and show you on here. They are absolutely gorgeous, it was worth the weight. In the morning when I make breakfast, the kids say, " Mom I want a blue omelet". I love it!