New member with no eggs, help!

[kulhand]

Hello All, I am new to raising chickens with this being my first flock. We started our with 3 day old chicks back in late April. We got 4 Polish hens and 2 Buff Orpington hens (at least that is what we believe the correct breed). One of the Orpingtons turned out to be a rooster and we had to give him away at about 12 weeks.

So my biggest concern is that our hens are now 41 weeks old and we have yet to get one egg. They have been on Purina Organic grower feed since we brought them home, they also eat veggies from our garden and left over Salad, etc. I have a light in the coop on for 14 hours a day and they come out of the coop any time the temp is above 20 degrees (we live in Wisconsin). Our local country store has told us to stay on starter feed until they start to layou.

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Has anyone else experienced this long for hens to start?? Any advice would be helpful!! Thanks in advance!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. This search may help give you some answers - https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=reasons+for+hens+not+laying

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you

All the best
CT

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under kulhand

Welcome!

Ken has given you some good links. If it helps, I have read many, many threads about chickens not laying eggs in the last couple of months and the majority of those would be related to your current winter.

Hopefully you will have some eggs very soon!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends

 

[3riverschick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
Hi,
Agree, they should be laying by now. Get some crushed oyster shell and put it in e separate dish where it won't get wet. The hens will only eat it if they need it. Same with the rooster.
I agree birds need greens during the winter but not all greens are the same . What your girls need is sprouted oat seeds. 1 cubic inch per bird per day of 3-7 day old sprouted oats. Lots of scientific reasons or all the details in that last sentence. It will give your males more robust sperm and help bring your hens into lay. 1 thru 3 day old sprouts don't do the job as well because they are grain feed, not green feed. No advantage in feeding sprouts older then 7 days. you can read all about it including easy how to in on pages 24 thru 29 of this BYC thread at the top of this post. Use forage oats, not feed oats. I get mine at Tractor Supply and use Plotspike Forage Oats. Stored correctly, they last for years. http://www.plotspike.com
Best Regards,
Karen
.

 

[drumstick diva]

Is there a chance they could be laying eggs where you can't find them or predators taking them?

 

[kulhand]

I don't think hiding them or being taken would be the case here. There has been no tampering of the chicken wire or hardware cloth of any kind, or any holes dug to get under the run. Also I open up the coop every morning to inspect and clean the sand in the coop. The nesting boxes have gone untouched.

It looks like others have had to wait almost a year for their Polish hens to start, I guess I will have to hang tight!!

 

[N F C]

I don't think Polish are known to be early or prolific layers so waiting longer is probably the best way to go. Sounds to me like you're doing everything else just fine.

Good luck to you and thank you for joining us!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Pleased you joined our community! The folks in the postings above said all I could think to advise so I will just say best wishes and I hope they start laying soon!

 

[kulhand]

We got our first egg this norning!! Finally after 10 long months! Thanks everyone. Since only hen is laying should we now switch to layer feed versus a grower food?