Hens don't lay - Why?

[whudson]

I got 3 Orpington hens and a Roo back in January. They were about 18 months old when I got them. One has been laying regularly since I got them, the other two haven't laid a single egg.

Is that normal?

I also have a Silkie trio that just turned 7 months. When should I expect eggs from them?

 

[willowcol]

Might be the amount of light and the weather for the older ones, maybe they will start laying again soon. The silkies not sure I think they take a while a friend of mine has s ilkie thats 9 months and it just started laying. I think it just depends on the bird.

 

[chilling in muscadine]

The ones not laying, are they molting?

 

[whudson]

No, not moulting.

And the one that HAS been laying decided to go broody on me last week -

 

[jvls1942]

welcome to the world of BOrp.

broody is their middle name.

they need 14 hours of daylight for good egg laying.. also, if you are feeding them "treats" like cracked corn or scratch, they might be eating that first before their laying mash. cut out the treats for a while..