Porcelain D'uccle Bantam 11 months old - No eggs yet

[jimmywalt]

I have one Porcelain D'uccle Bantam in my little flock (5 chickens). She is 11 months old and has NEVER laid an egg yet. What's up with this breed??? Do they ever lay?

We live in Michigan and it's been TERRIBLY cold since November. I'm wondering if this is why.

I'll give her till spring and if she doesn't produce she's going to have to go........... Don't need a pet.

Here are some pictures from last summer/fall.

 

[SIMZ]

Sounds pretty frustrating.....but she sure is pretty!

Do you have added light? I've noticed that mine don't lay much in winter without a light. They are pretty slow to mature, and maybe the brutally cold winter we've had just kept her from laying? Still, that seems pretty odd that she didn't lay some eggs before winter set in if she was hatched in March.

 

[Peneliva]

Don't give up! She'll eventually lay!

 

[hope4rainbow]

We have a Porcelain D'uccle too! She is definitely a pet though. She is so sweet!!
She is almost 30wks and no eggs...she actually just started to get more than bumps on her head for a comb and a slight pinkish tinge in the past couple of weeks. I'm confident she will lay eventually and yours, too! One of our EE girls just laid yesterday for the first time, they're the same age. D'uccles are known to take a while and the winter isn't helping, I don't think. It has been ridiculous here and you're quite a bit farther north. The longer days I think are starting to have their effects! Finally!! Lol.

 

[lilwhitechick]

Chickens are very fussy. If it is too hot, they will not lay. if it is too cold, they wont lay either. She will get there!! You will know because her crest will go red and grow. But they lay very infrequently for the first few weeks. Good luck!!

 

[SIMZ]

One more idea - is it possible she is hiding eggs? This would have been more in the late summer/fall, but keep it in mind as we go into spring. I had two bantams in with my layers and thought they weren't laying. One day I found several bantam eggs in the corner of one of their range shelters. Another time I found a bunch in the rabbit hutch box, and a small nest in the corner of the main coop under the nesting boxes. She may be creative in finding little nooks to lay, even if they're in a pretty contained area.

 

[jimmywalt]

Thanks everyone for your posts.

No I haven't provided light during this winter.

No she can't hide them because my chickens are always in their enclosed coop/run (picture attached). We live in a subdivision and are keeping our chickens "under the radar" ;-)

I was thinking that because of the LONG brutal winter maybe that's why she isn't laying yet. But we got her last March and she had all summer/fall.

Guess I'll give her till May/June to lay and egg and we can go from there. I'm not looking for a food-eating non-egg-producing chicken since we have such as small flock.

 

[lilwhitechick]

yes that did happen to mine!!

 

[TheNuttyChick]

She's adorable, give her time.

 

[PugetCountry]

We have a buff mottled and a mille fleur that are 9 months old. They both started laying last week. We were going to keep them anyway and I expected no eggs from them so it was a nice surprise. Their eggs are very pretty and actually very decent sized. The yolk is almost regular size the whites are just a bit smaller. They're my daughters favorite egg. They aren't as consistent as a regular layer but they are very sweet so It's fine by us.