Help! No eggs from chickens..

[helpmehomestead]

My wife and I are slowing getting into homesteading, we are both from the city and want to get out and spend more time with family. We got some buff orphington chicks about 4-5 months ago. They are all big now but they arnt laying any eggs. I'm feeding them a mixture of chick starter, laying mash, corn, and grass clippings. Is it just too early for them to be laying? I have 5 chickens and 1 rooster.

 

[sourland]

20 weeks is a little too soon to expect eggs from Buff Orpingtons. They generally start laying somewhat later than the high production birds, but generally have a longer productive lifetime.

 

[helpmehomestead]

Great! Thanks so much!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. Great advice from @sourland

Please make yourself at home here with us.

Best wishes
CT

 

[junebuggena]

Pullets that mature in the fall/winter take longer to start laying. Layer feed is for actively laying birds only, so it might be a good idea to stop feeding that for now. The calcium levels are much too high for birds that aren't producing eggs. Corn and other things will dilute the overall protein intake and could result in them taking even longer to start laying.
Orpingtons that mature in the summer usually start laying at about 6 months of age. Yours probably won't be ready to start until they are about 7 or 8 months old.

 

[wamtazlady]

My Buff Orpington hatched Feb 27 last year. She hadn't started laying before the days got short. However, she started to lay the end of January and laid regularly until she started to molt. They are big chickens and seems they take longer to mature. Having the days so short seems to slow them down even more.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[N F C]

Congratulations to you and your wife on your new flock and your move towards homesteading! You've already received some good advice on their diet so I'll just say hello and it's nice to have you join us!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, helpmehomestead, and ! Great to have you aboard! Looks like you've received some great advice already so I'll just say best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!