Is it possible for a pullet to NEVER lay an egg?

[bobbieschicks]

My sweet Ancona AC is now 48 weeks old - just one month from turning 1 year old. She has never ever ever ever laid an egg!

What is the deal? I thought ACs were supposed to be good egg layers like their counterparts the White Leghorns. I know "she will lay when she lays" however, is it possible she is somehow defective and will never lay? Has anyone else had a pullet this late to start laying?

Many weeks ago I found a strange balloon looking thing in the manure box - I figured it was a softshell egg gone awry as my White Leghorn had been having laying issues at the time. But is there anyway that the balloon looking thing was her internal laying organs?
I know - I'm grasping at straws - but I so want my AC to lay an egg - just one egg!

She's definitely a she - but without the egg laying I'm starting to get a little worried for her. Her days are definitely numbered.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My sweet Ancona AC is now 48 weeks old - just one month from turning 1 year old. She has never ever ever ever laid an egg!

What is the deal? I thought ACs were supposed to be good egg layers like their counterparts the White Leghorns. I know "she will lay when she lays" however, is it possible she is somehow defective and will never lay? Has anyone else had a pullet this late to start laying?

Many weeks ago I found a strange balloon looking thing in the manure box - I figured it was a softshell egg gone awry as my White Leghorn had been having laying issues at the time. But is there anyway that the balloon looking thing was her internal laying organs?
I know - I'm grasping at straws - but I so want my AC to lay an egg - just one egg!

She's definitely a she - but without the egg laying I'm starting to get a little worried for her. Her days are definitely numbered.

My Anconas started at about 24 weeks and lay well but any breed can have a defective one. Bigger breeds like JGs tend to wait up to a year. Does there seem to be anything else wrong with her? Are you sure she doesn't have a secret nest? I've been finding eggs in strange places lately. I've had pullets and hens fly out of their pen, fly into another pen, run into the coop, lay an egg in there and return to their pen. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. It explains the white eggs in the penedesenca nests.

 

[Happy Chooks]

It can happen, but it's extremely rare.

I had one welsummer hold out on me for 11 months. She eventually did lay, then a few months later went broody.

 

[chickbabymomma1]

Could she be laying somewhere else. I have a black sexlink and she has laid one egg in the nesting box and nothing since. I am beginning to wonder if she has found a spot outside of her pen she likes better. Good luck hope she starts laying soon!

 

[bobbieschicks]

No she's definitely not laying anywhere else. She has the coop and a fenced in run for places to go. Occasionally I will let them out to roam, but even then it's only a small area and I watch them closely. I wondered if she was laying under the coop, but we cleaned it out in the spring and found no evidence of that happening. I've seen her look into the nestbox. I've seen her climb into it and climb back out. But never have I seen her lay an egg. And since she and my WL are the only two white layers I have I would be ale to tell if she started laying.

Her comb is not as red as the combs of my Lavender Orpingtons, it's more of an orange red. Occasionally she will get a darker red or purple tone to the tips, but not the entire comb.

Oh well, maybe there's still hope for her.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I'm starting to think the answer to this question is yes. AC is 50 weeks old and still no eggs.

 

[Cotton42]

Is she squatting? If she is and is also going into the nesting box but you aren't getting any eggs, she could be an internal layer. Although, I have an easter egger that didn't lay until she was well over a year, so there could still be hope for her yet!

 

[astormygirl]

Flip her over to see if she is laying. If she is open and streched out. Looks moist and you still are getting no eggs someone might be eating them. Sorry!

 

[terryg]

Yes, some hens never lay. Some have genetic defects and don't lay. Some are diseased (with no outward signs.) Hens have only one working ovary, so if something happens to it you won't get eggs. But, what with her odd comb color changes, and that "balloon thing" (which was an egg with a soft shell) perhaps it's as simple as having a mineral imbalance. She might be laying very soft eggs and eating them before you find them. I've had that! You might want to try an epsom salt soak (see my spa treatment http://hencam.com/faq/the-spa-treatment/) and be very careful about feeding (overly fat hens have laying problems.)

 

[bobbieschicks]

Her vent is not moist and she hasn't been internally laying either. She just hasn't laid at all.