angrychick3n
In the Brooder
Good afternoon everyone! I have a question regarding new chicken egg laying. I have a flock of 16, 9 of whom were the original and the eldest, sitting at around 20 weeks old. The other 7 range from 14-18 weeks old. The other 7 are part of the original flock but not quite in the "click" so to speak. The elders of "other" flock (18 weeks old) have begun laying "pullet" eggs. Very small ones, they just started laying. The 20 week old "original flock, are decidedly larger birds, as since I kept them from chicks, I was able to ensure their proper diet, and yet none of them lay. Whats stranger, is the bird of the "original" whom I would guess is maybe 1 or 2 on the pecking order is a BlueCM that exhibits strange behavior. She will join along with 3 to 4 other birds on entering the coup and inspecting the nesting boxes, and sometimes, she doesn't join, but others will inspect, and regardless of whether or not she joins to consider sitting down to lay, 5 to 7 minutes later, she will begin the song of "my ovum has entered the world" that we all know, but yet she hasn't layed any eggs. What is even stranger, is when she sounds off, all the rest of the other birbs that were inspecting boxes and considering sitting just up and leave, and abandon the prospect of laying for the entire day. Its really frustrating as they're well within laying age, and half of the "original" flock are production breeds, Black Australorps, and Rhode Islands, so they should be laying by now. Has anyone seen this very odd behavior before?
