New Chickens Aren't Laying

[eicg]

On Sunday 4/12 we picked up 5 hens. They're obviously mixes and are somewhere between 6 weeks and 1.5 years. The person we got them from had a massive flock that was all mixed together and we got to pick which ever ones we wanted to take. We picked 5 hens that looked old enough to be laying, as we were hoping to have eggs pretty soon. Since we got them they haven't laid at all. We understand that this is likely do to the stress of moving and that we haven't had them long but we were wondering when we should be expecting eggs? Do they look too young and it's a matter of waiting for them to start? Is it just a pause do to stress and in that case how long does it usually take till they start? The guy we got them from didn't speak English very well so there was a barrier with figuring out how of they are and if they were already laying. The one also doesn't look very good because she was out in the rain.

 

[TheSmallestEgg]

It might be stress. I remember moving hens and it taking them a few days to get situated again and start laying. And now sometimes a hen will lay an egg just walking around. Also, from my experience, my youngest bantam hens were maybne six weeks or a little more when I got them and they didnt lay a single egg all winter long. They just started in march. Chickens dont lay till they're about 6 months, and I dont know if your post had a typo, but if they're 6 weeks, it's not happening.

 

[eicg]

It might be stress. I remember moving hens and it taking them a few days to get situated again and start laying. And now sometimes a hen will lay an egg just walking around. Also, from my experience, my youngest bantam hens were maybne six weeks or a little more when I got them and they didnt lay a single egg all winter long. They just started in march. Chickens dont lay till they're about 6 months, and I dont know if your post had a typo, but if they're 6 weeks, it's not happening.

We were told they were between 6 week and 1.5 years because it was a mixed flock and that was the age range of the entire flock. The youngest they had were 6 weeks. We selected hens that were clearly over 6 weeks and looked to be adults.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Those all look like point of lay or at least close to it. Stress from being moved can last a couple of weeks, so I'd give them a bit more time to adjust.