Hello everyone! We have a pullet who was hatched last July, which makes her around 8 months old. According to what you guys guessed at, she's a RIR/Sussex cross. She's a lovely brown big-bodied bird, and has well-developed red comb and wattles. Our leader rooster has been actively mating with her for about a month or so, and I've noticed he always does that when a chicken is about to go into laying.
But, so far no eggs from her. We thought we'd be patient, but then my husband suggested that perhaps she's laying and hiding her eggs somewhere. I checked her vent yesterday, because it always seems to me I see a difference in a chicken's vent once she starts laying, and it looked like this one has but I can't be 100% sure.
So, since following her around in search for her nest is out of the question (our chickens all free range, we have no fences, and a lot of brush and overgrowth on our territory, so the eggs might be anywhere), I locked her up in the coop, together with our other roo, her brood mate, with whom she is inseparable. How long do I need to keep her locked up to either make sure she hasn't begun laying yet, or to get her used to the nesting box?
But, so far no eggs from her. We thought we'd be patient, but then my husband suggested that perhaps she's laying and hiding her eggs somewhere. I checked her vent yesterday, because it always seems to me I see a difference in a chicken's vent once she starts laying, and it looked like this one has but I can't be 100% sure.
So, since following her around in search for her nest is out of the question (our chickens all free range, we have no fences, and a lot of brush and overgrowth on our territory, so the eggs might be anywhere), I locked her up in the coop, together with our other roo, her brood mate, with whom she is inseparable. How long do I need to keep her locked up to either make sure she hasn't begun laying yet, or to get her used to the nesting box?