Hens still not laying at 6 months?

[Robinkay1]

Hi all,

My 5 chickens are 6 months old (I don't know how many weeks exactly) and still not laying eggs. Hmmph! I thought they'd be laying by now. 4 of them are frizzle bantams, and so smaller, don't know if that makes a difference? The silver laced wyandotte and buff orp aren't laying yet either.

These are my first chickens so I really have no frame of reference. Any thoughts?

 

[chickenlover09]

What are you feeding them and how much light do they get?

The bantams usually take longer to lay (or non productive layers), but i'd think the orp and wyndadotte would start now.

 

[Robinkay1]

They are outside all day (they can let themselves in and out of their coop into protected run, and I let them free-range for several hours every afternoon). They are still eating the stage 1 feed, as feed store told me not to give layer feed until they actually start laying. They also eat grass and bugs outside, I give them mealworms, veges, oats, etc....

Maybe they are laying them and eating them before I check the coop? Or maybe they are laying them in the bushes when I'm not looking? I haven't heard any egg-laying songs, however....

 

[CotswoldLegbar]

Hi - I came here to ask a very similar question. We have 4 chickens, two old ones (2 years old I think, they are second-hand, long story) who are quite dominant, and two young Cotswold Legbars. We got them at 15 weeks, and one of them started laying at about 20 weeks. The other one has not laid yet. Now the laying Cotswold has stopped as well. Is this an occurrence with younger chickens? They are all 4 quite energetic and chatty, and with a healthy appetite for pellets, grains, mealworms, vegetables etc. and have access to the garden pretty much all day to roam (and no secret egg stashes there, either).
I am at a loss on how to encourage them to lay. We put a wooden egg in their coop, but instead one of the older ones has taken a liking to it, and broods on it. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.