English Lavender Orpington Laying Age

[JetCat]

I picked up a pair of English Lavender Orpington from a guy (they were beautiful, healthy and the price was right) that he said were 5-6 months old but she hadn't started to lay yet. I've got them in quarantine and they are doing great. i messaged the guy i got them from and asked the hatch date and he got back to me this afternoon with a hatch date of 26 April 2015 (he was absolutely sure of that), that makes them a bit over 30 weeks old and she should have been laying by now one would think but her comb still hasn't filled in good and red yet either.

he said he just had them on a regular 16% layer diet and that for the last month or so all his chickens have stopped laying, i have mine on a higher protein diet and no artificial light and they are all still producing an egg a day, could if be the diet he was feeding? i doubt the lighting would be much different as he's only about 25 miles from me and he said his pens get good sun.

I've heard of hens coming of egg laying age close to winter that didn't start till the following spring but i'm hoping that's not the case, any suggestions??

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Show bred or fancier bred Orpington can take a bit longer to start, mine would be almost 8 months, I now prefer hatchery birds. And Orpingtons are slow to mature so they should have been on higher protein for longer. I think you might have a couple of months yet, breeding has a lot to do with it.

 

[JetCat]

Thanks for the input, i feed a higher protein diet to my chickens then most people do but i'll toss them in a little extra of the 30% i use for my quail till she starts laying.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I had assumed by your post that you did, but you had said the seller was feeding a 16% ration and I like keeping them on a bit more at least until they are full grown and mature, and Orpingtons take at least a year and can take longer to reach full size. The bigger the bird the longer it takes, breeds like leghorns mature quickly and lay younger for it, but in my opinion don't have the looks and the staying power of larger breeds which start later but lay longer in their lifetime.

 

[JetCat]

Yes i understood you on that and you are correct, sorry if i was confusing. i was just saying i'd toss a little extra on top of the extra i already feed sort of as a catch up if they need it, i don't think it can hurt as it's still pretty balanced everywhere else.

thanks again.

 

[aart]

Thanks for the input, i feed a higher protein diet to my chickens then most people do but i'll toss them in a little extra of the 30% i use for my quail till she starts laying.

Be careful not to give them too much protein, can be just as bad as not enough.
What is the content and protein level of your " higher protein diet "?
Balance in other foods your giving them too.

Length of day could definitely be having an effect here too.

 

[JetCat]

Be careful not to give them too much protein, can be just as bad as not enough.
What is the content and protein level of your " higher protein diet "?
Balance in other foods your giving them too.

Length of day could definitely be having an effect here too.

I feed a 22% breeder blend from a local mill.

i'm not gonna add artificial lighting, if she takes till spring to lay so be it but i'd rather she start sooner

 

[JetCat]

just an update, she's 35 weeks old today, and she laid her first egg this morning!!!

sadly being she's a new girl at it, she laid it while on the roost and it dropped 4' and cracked.

maybe she'll figure the nesting box out soon enough, although the rooster seams to inspect it a lot more then she does.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Congratulations, some hens do that, I'm assuming they don't know what is going on and just push it out, she will get the idea, or at least listen to the rooster.

 

[JetCat]

Thanks