3 production red pullets (8 months) are laying inconsistently....... some days one or two eggs, others zip....... Don't remember any of my previous pullets doing this....... Is this considered normal?
Absolutely. They are young yet, and getting everything synced up. If you have other chickens, you know that it's perfectly normal for an individual not to lay every single day. Just make sure they are on a good layer food and maybe getting some oyster shell free choice, and I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Thanks Blooie! I feel better hearing it from someone that knows what they are talking about! They've been laying for about 8 weeks........ They do free range some.....
8 weeks should be long enough to have things synced up. I'd start by not letting them range at all for a week see if she produces anything.
Whoa, back up here. I'm confused and I'm about to retract some of what I said. You said they are 8 months old. But they've been laying for 8 weeks? Then I need to rethink what I said before. I thought they were newer to laying than that! Good think @aart had the good sense to ask the questions I should have. Since they free range, first thing I'd do is look for hidden nests somewhere. And it doesn't have to be anyplace that looks "nesty" - they'll hide nests in flower pots or whereever. Now, what I said about them not laying everyday still holds true. Just because you have 3 layers doesn't mean you'll get 3 eggs everyday. Somedays 2, somedays 1, somedays none is still normal for just 3 birds. Days are getting shorter too, and that affects production, although not so much in first year layers. So check for hidden nests, check to make sure they are getting a good layer food, and keep an eye on them. I still don't think it's anything to worry about, but I no longer think that after 2 months of laying it's just a matter of getting the assembly line glitch-free.
Great minds, aart - except yours is still greater than mine on accounta I didn't think to ask how long they'd been laying.
