Pullet not laying...

[ElCerritoPlace]

I have sl wyandotte who is 8 months old. She's always bit on small side compared to other slw. Shes got twisted toes, thats how she came to us at 2 months old. She's still not laying whereas the other has been laying for 2 months. Will she lay? Do some just never lay?

 

[Wyandottes7]

She might just be a little stunted in growth. What color is her comb? A hen that will be laying soon will have a red, large comb. Hens that are not laying will often have small pale combs.

Has anything stressful (like a predator attack, etc) occured lately? Stress can cause birds to not lay. Is there any place that she could be hiding eggs? Daylight hours are decreasing, so she might not lay until spring. You can try to encourage her to lay by providing supplemental light.

As long as there isn't something internally wrong with her, she should lay eventually.

 

[ElCerritoPlace]

Her comb has been as red as the others that started laying two months ago, the same age as her, one is a slw the other australorp. They all turned red 2 months ago, but she's the only one to laying. Nothing else has happened.

 

[ElCerritoPlace]

That Should say not laying.

 

[Mrsfoote]

Did she come from a hatchery? If so then she may not ever lay. I bought a few years back a couple of year old hens and then 1 pullet from that spring. A Colombian Wyandotte to be exact she is now almost 4 and not a single egg out of her. EVER. She goes to the nest goes through the motions and then sings the song, we praise her and tell her how wonderful she is, but I've found this to be an issue with some hatchery wyandottes. They are also a REALLY slow growing breed. They are pretty but as far as egg size and frequency go I wasn't thrilled with them.

 

[ElCerritoPlace]

I picked her up at a local swap with 2 others. They were 2 months old, one I lost right away. The other one just now died, completely emaciated and no other symptoms. This last one has twisted toes and was lightly smaller to begin with, but then she just didn't seem to grow when the other one did. I won't buy from that farm again, because of all the problems and lack of communication from them.

 

[1muttsfan]

I would be very concerned about disease in the birds you obtained, do you have other birds? If you do, were they exposed to the sick ones? There are some diseases that can become permanent in a flock. If you consider getting other birds, you may want to depopulate and disinfect first.

 

[ElCerritoPlace]

I would be very concerned about disease in the birds you obtained, do you have other birds?  If you do, were they exposed to the sick ones? There are some diseases that can become permanent in a flock.  If you consider getting other birds, you may want to depopulate and disinfect first.

Yes, I have other birds, some the same age as the Wyandottes, others 2 months younger. We had just moved across country so we got our flock this last spring. The Wyandottes were from a NPIP farm but I was just not impressed with the condition of the birds, the size of box they were in, or the owners.

However, depopulate, meaning get rid of all and start over? Or get rid of the Wyandotte? The other birds from a different farm are all in good condition, he showed us their operation. I'd hate to get rid of all since this is my layer flock, and that would set me back another 6 months.

 

[Natalijaasbj]

heritage breeds often start laying later, than hybrids. both mine Heritage birds started laying around 8 months of age.