Help for a newbie

[mainah]

I have 6 girls (3 barred rock, 2 white rock, and one Red sex link). The girls are all 20 weeks old now and still haven't laid an egg for me yet. I am still feeding grower pellets at this time. I built them a chicken tractor coop that I move every couple of days to give them fresh grass. They have a run and love it very much. They love it so much that they don't sleep inside the coop. They do go inside the coop because that is where their food is and they do eat well. I have nest boxes for them and it doesn't look like they even use them. I put golf balls into them to see if that would help. There is wood shavings on the floor of the coop and hay inside the boxes. Is there any chance I will see an egg? Is there anything that I should do different? Thanks in advance for the advise.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only thing I would do is the next feed you purchase could be layer instead of grower. They are right at the age they could start laying any day. Seems like you are doing everything right.

One or more may be laying and hiding the eggs from you so a good search may be called for, but more likely just a little more patience will work.

I'll include a link to a site that tells you what to look for in a hen that is laying or will soon lay. I know the site is a culling site, but I am not suggesting you cull your hens. I'm sending it so you can pick out the information that might tell you when they are ready to lay. For example, if they have had bright red combs for a few days, I would search hard for possible nests.

http://msucares.com/poultry/management/culling.html#id

Good luck!

 

[thechickenchick]

Welcome to BYC! I am glad you found us! I agree with RR. Your next bag of food should be layer pellets. I have found the layer pellets are better than the crumble. There is less waste so a bag lasts a little longer. Also a hanging feeder helps with that.

If the girls are about ready to lay you will start hearing a lot of noise from them! Mine announced it for a day or 3(!) before they actually laid an egg. Also they will squat when you get close to them. This is a sign of maturity. Some breeds take a little longer to start laying.