One month later they're not all laying..

[MegWVT]

Time for a 'butt check'......to see who is laying and who is not.

Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones F-F) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.
(Spacing is relative with chickens size and humans finger size.)

Thank you for this! And if I see who is laying and who is not are there any steps I should take to help the girls? I introduced oyster shell after the first egg and they get pellets as their primary source of food, and I give them a bit of scratch feed in the morning. When the grass starts dying I'm going to give them fodder.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you for this! And if I see who is laying and who is not are there any steps I should take to help the girls? I introduced oyster shell after the first egg and they get pellets as their primary source of food, and I give them a bit of scratch feed in the morning. When the grass starts dying I'm going to give them fodder.

You say they get pellets... meaning 16% protein layer?

I would skip the scratch personally. It's nutritional value is calorie dense without much vitamins and minerals and usually only about 8% protein. Since 16% protein is the absolute minimum needed to sustain a light bodies layer, be sure you aren't feeding more than 10% of the total daily ration in treats like scratch.

I like giving fodder or even just sprouts as well. But the green in the fodder will probably help to have rich colored egg yolks when grass is dormant. And the chickens absolutely LOVE it.

 

[sourland]

As others have said, some just mature more slowly than others.

 

[MegWVT]

You say they get pellets... meaning 16% protein layer?

I would skip the scratch personally. It's nutritional value is calorie dense without much vitamins and minerals and usually only about 8% protein. Since 16% protein is the absolute minimum needed to sustain a light bodies layer, be sure you aren't feeding more than 10% of the total daily ration in treats like scratch.

I like giving fodder or even just sprouts as well. But the green in the fodder will probably help to have rich colored egg yolks when grass is dormant. And the chickens absolutely LOVE it.

It's 17% protein. Green Mountain Feed. I like giving them the scratch because it's a treat for the ladies who do nothing but provide us food. The scratch is made of corn and a little barley so when the nights turn cold we'll feed it to them in the evening to keep their body temps up.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It's 17% protein. Green Mountain Feed. I like giving them the scratch because it's a treat for the ladies who do nothing but provide us food. The scratch is made of corn and a little barley so when the nights turn cold we'll feed it to them in the evening to keep their body temps up.

There is nothing wrong with giving treats, in moderation... at less than 10% of the total daily consumption.

Chicken feed is mostly corn anyways, most of the time. Corn keeping body temp up is a myth... a calorie is a calorie. The body temp is regulated by bio chemistry, feathers and the muscles which consume the calories. They don't care where it comes from.