Hens NOT laying after 8 months

[NiQue2004]

Hello,

I use to have hens but something came and killed them ( Old and new hens). I was very upset about that and haven't had ant hens since. My sister has recently bought hens in April of this year (2015) and they have not laid any eggs. She lives in SC and this is her first time having hens. The people there told her to feed her hens scratch and she has been feeding them scratch until Thanksgiving when I told her scratch doesn't give the hens the complete nutrition they need so she started feeding them the proper laying pellets. So what could be the problem why her hens are not laying? Could it be the scratch she was feeding them and is it too late for the problem to be fixed?

Thank you in advance.

NiQue.

 

[QueenMisha]

Hello,

I use to have hens but something came and killed them ( Old and new hens). I was very upset about that and haven't had ant hens since. My sister has recently bought hens in April of this year (2015) and they have not laid any eggs. She lives in SC and this is her first time having hens. The people there told her to feed her hens scratch and she has been feeding them scratch until Thanksgiving when I told her scratch doesn't give the hens the complete nutrition they need so she started feeding them the proper laying pellets. So what could be the problem why her hens are not laying? Could it be the scratch she was feeding them and is it too late for the problem to be fixed?

Thank you in advance.

NiQue.

First off I just want to thank you for helping her feed them correctly. For some reason this is such a common mistake with beginners, feeding all scratch or 50/50 scratch pellets, and it just does terrible things to the bird's health. Some days I feel like going out and putting posters around at feed stores to explain this, maybe yell at the cashiers a little bit too.

I would say that yes, the poor nutrition could be a likely cause of late point of lay. Granted some hens will wait until eight or nine months of age all on their own, but I'm sure the poor diet didn't help. How long where they on it? If they were raised on a starter then changed to a scratch when they were juveniles or adults, it's probably just a matter of their bodies taking some time to recover from the malnutrition; if they were raised on it from a young age, I might be more worried about long term health issues.

 

[jimbob86]

The birds in the pic appear to me to be Buff Orpingtons and by the look of the combs/wattles, are not ready to lay yet.

I got my day old BOrp chicks the third week of April, and got the first egg the 28th of September.

 

[Bridebeliever]

X2 on QueenMisha's post! Hopefully they are now on a nice complete chicken feed for layers...she may even want to have them on Starter/Grower which has a bit more protein until she actually sees the first egg. They are right around laying age and as their combs become deeper red she should see an egg.

 

[cberrybog]

We have a hen who has not layed yet, but the other one has (Easter Eggers). They have been fed layer pellets ever since we introduced then to the whole flock. It has been about 8 months, how long until you guys think she is going to lay? She has been treated great by the other hens, even though the hen that is laying has been bullied.

 

[NiQue2004]

Hi. Thanks for your response Queen Misha.

My sister did feed them the starter feed until they started to fly out of their crate than she switched to scratch.

NiQue

 

[wamtazlady]

I think some BO can be slow to lay. I got 8 breeds of pullets that were hatched Feb. 27. The BO is the only one not laying. Her comb and face are still pink, not red yet. With the days getting longer now I have hopes of her laying in Feb. or Mar. The pullets I have that hatched in June might lay before she does.

 

[NiQue2004]

Thank you to everyone for your help.

NiQue

 

[dabacote4]

I have a hen that has been in the nesting box for two days and she is eating but not coming out she is a bo. What do I need to do? This is my first time. Thanks for all tour response on helping me getting them to lay.