Newbie Question about when the chickens will lay

[TwoWho]

Please forgive me if this is already posted here but I am very new to all of this and had a couple of questions.

We hatched some eggs at the end of July and have one of them left. I also purchased three Delaware chicks from our local feed store a few weeks later and they were near to the same hatch dates (they were the last three of a large lot that came in a few weeks prior).

We have not had a single egg yet, and now that the days are short, I am not sure what to expect. We are in Southern California so the weather is moderate.

There are a few feathers on the bottom of their run, but nothing like a whole chicken's worth.

One last question, is there a chance that we could have a rooster this many months old, almost five, and not have noticed typical signs such as crowing or mounting? Roosters are not allowed here.

Hope this all made sense. Thanks for your time!

 

[ChickenMack]

I had some eggs that hatched at the beginning of August and no eggs from that batch either. I am hoping they start at 25 weeks at least, when they do start, it will be spotty at best but by spring, you should be getting one egg per hen every 28 hours or so.

If there are no signs of worms (poor weight gain, bloody poo, worms in poo) or disease don't worry, they will lay, winter is just a poor time due to lack of sunlight. But it will happen....eventually. If they are ready to lay, if you can get behind them and wave your hand at their tail feathers and they crouch like they are getting ready for the rooster, hormonally, they are ready to go.

As for the rooster, if you had one, he may not be crowing yet, but he will be bigger than the others and his combs and wattles would be larger. He may not be mounting the girls- he won't until they start laying, again, all hormonally charged.

 

[TwoWho]

Thank you ChickenMack! We've got much to learn here so I appreciate your advice.

 

[beach livin']

i got my first egg this week, and the hen was roughtly 26 weeks. i have 3 from the same batch not laying yet. and i have no roo's, so i cant help ya there