My Chicken hasn't started to lay...

[JuChicks]

Hey guys, I got 4 new chickens in late June (I think) and the seller said that he got them as chicks during Chick Days (the one in spring.) He said that he thought one may have started to lay already. They all looked very healthy except for one, who was healthy 90% of the time but sometimes just sat there. For one month, none of them layed eggs. Then, one started to lay. Two weeks later, another. And another two weeks after that, the third one. Now, the weird one I was talking about still hasn't layed. She now looks very healthy but is just sort of bullied. Not very bullied, it's just that she and a couple of other chickens just have standoffs from time to time. She eats/drinks normally, runs and scratches around with the others (just sometimes kind of separate, she's not social), and sleeps in the hen house on her perch with the others. Anybody have any idea why she hasn't layed yet? Should I change her diet or something? Thanks for any help!!

PS They all looked young with small crowns/waddles that have now ground (except for the one who won't lay) and bright legs.

PPS She isn't a rooster because I think that I would know if she was.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Please check her crop tonight at bedtime and again first thing in the morning BEFORE she has access to food and water. In the picture you've posted, I don't see her crop, and that leads me to wonder if she's being bullied away from the food. While you're checking the crop, you may wish to bring her into the house where the lighting is good and with a light colored rag ruffle her feathers, especially under her wings & at the tail and vent area. Examine her legs, and her feet both top and bottom. After the examination, examine the rag, if any of that dirt on them is moving then she's got external parasites. Feel at her keel (breast bone), is she bony or meaty there?
Her comb doesn't seem as red as her sisters' combs, this could be a maturity issue or a parasite issue. She also seems several ounces (a half pound maybe) lighter than her sisters; hence the exam.
Please keep us posted with your observations.

 

[Jenwisp]

I had 1 ISA Brown ( they look like yours ) who laid a month after her 5 cliquemates. Your first image, the hen doesn't have a large comb, if she is anything like mine it will grow and turn red in the days leading up to laying.

 

[Bear1978]

Mine are about the same age and haven’t started laying yet. They’re doing the ‘egg squat’ and making an awful lot of noise in the coop and one was sitting in the nesting box earlier today. But so far no eggs. But they’re just on the verge of being mature enough to lay and with the shorter days of sunlight now that fall and winter are approaching, it may be longer or even next year.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Anybody have any idea why she hasn't layed yet?

The first of my recent Flock of 5 ISA Browns started to lay at 17 weeks and 2 days.
The last one of them to lay started at 22 weeks 5 days.
5 and a half weeks later.
I was about to give up on her. Then she started acting fidgety on a Saturday checking nest boxes, then Sunday she was scratching around in the nests for a couple of hours.
Then things got quiet, then the egg song.
She went straight to the feeder, and I checked the nest. . The white egg is ceramic.
My first Flock of 5 Golden Comets were 2.5 weeks apart.
My second Flock of 7 Barred Rocks were 3 weeks apart.
So it can vary quite a lot, even with the same type of chicken. GC

 

[Whigru]

It’s possible that even spring chicks wouldn’t be laying, yet. I have two (one from March and one from May) that aren’t yet laying. Pics would be helpful, though!

 

[Duckee]

Please check her crop tonight at bedtime and again first thing in the morning BEFORE she has access to food and water. In the picture you've posted, I don't see her crop, and that leads me to wonder if she's being bullied away from the food. While you're checking the crop, you may wish to bring her into the house where the lighting is good and with a light colored rag ruffle her feathers, especially under her wings & at the tail and vent area. Examine her legs, and her feet both top and bottom. After the examination, examine the rag, if any of that dirt on them is moving then she's got external parasites. Feel at her keel (breast bone), is she bony or meaty there?
Her comb doesn't seem as red as her sisters' combs, this could be a maturity issue or a parasite issue. She also seems several ounces (a half pound maybe) lighter than her sisters; hence the exam.
Please keep us posted with your observations.

X2
Golden comets are great production birds. She does look like a late bloomer. Hoping you'll see eggs from her soon

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Her crop is the big bulge they get on their neck after eating

 

[Ebony Rose]

Short answer to the crop question, impacted crop can kill your bird. Longer answer: Think of their crop as a grocery bag that the chickens store food in and then when hungry, move into their digestive tract to be consumed. If it's impacted, then food is going in (and fermenting), but not moving forward in the digestive process; starving the bird and I'd imagine pretty uncomfortable too as the fermenting food gasses up and causes the crop to bulge (chickens don't burp).
You said you noticed the bulge and then later is was smaller; that's a good sign.

 

[Bear1978]

Hey! OP, hang in there! Got my first egg just
Today!! So yours should lay soon! Two of mine were doing the egg squat and really noisy the last few days and then this!