Should I COOK her? Need your thoughts.......

[chickenlickin8]

Pat, That is just what she does..."The egg is coming, the egg is coming...then NOT!!! I'm sure she is not going back to lay because I have vested hours watching her behavior to see but nothing! I know for sure she is just going through the motions.

Coon, I like that recipe...might just come in handy here...REAL SOON!

My question is...how does she get the urge to go sit in the nest but not the urge to follow through and lay and egg? What is keeping her body from producing an egg? STRANGE!

I hate to eat a chicken I raised from a chick but I know she would be tasty.....hehehehe!

 

[ebonykawai]

Might she be an internal layer?

 

[Attack Chicken]

Some hens take up to 12 months to lay an egg. It could be the weather or the lighting. If it were my choice ,If she is a good hen and friendly I would keep her just to have around. But thats all up to you

 

[Opa]

Everytime I think about cooking a lazy hen I remember helping my grandmother kill a hen that she knew wasn't laying. We found 6 eggs almost ready to be laid.

 

[Lunachick]

I hope you give her more time, like the others said, it could be a number of reasons. Sounds like she could be faking it for her own safety, like " I hope she -meaning you- doesn't notice that I didn't do an egg yet!"

She's cute, If I lived closer to you I'd take her, I like pet chickens, eggs are a bonus for me.

 

[DomiHentrix]

Quote:
I am seriously laughing out loud here, not to make light of your plight but I can just picture her perfectly going through all the motions and ba bawk bawk and...nothing....so what is it then practice? I hope that she gives you an egg soon. Perhaps you should play fair and let her know that she has a week to lay before she is stew, lol.

 

[muddler6]

I am impatient and probably had chicken soup by now, but just a thought, do you have the facilities to house her seperately from the others, just to be sure that she is not laying? When I had just three egg layers, I could tell by the size and shape who's eggs were who's ( I spent a lot of time in the coop that season) but they did not always lay in the same box. She could be getting pushed out before she lays, laying in one box and trying to nest in another, etc. Chickens sometimes do strange things. I would seperate her, see how she does for a couple days, and if nothing, prep the cook pot. (I just hope you didn't name her yet, that makes it tough.)

 

[chickenlickin8]

Ebony, what is an "internal layer"? I haven't heard of that.

Domi, I have given her plenty of pep talks and told her that her number will be up if she doesn't pull her weight soon! She is friendly and very pretty but I got my girls for egg production...not just pets! Time is money...LOL!! She is such a tease about this whole egg thing...I told her...JUST LAY ONE!

I'm trying to have patience with her. I did raise her from a baby but hens are suppose to lay eggs...right?

As a kid, I remember what my dad would do when hens stop laying ....... I hated pulling off all those feathers in a big pot of hot water! He would say "Everything on the farm has to pull their weight...including the animals!"

Attack Chicken, can it really take a hen up to 12 months to lay their first egg? That seems like a really long time for her body to produce the first egg! What do most lay at 5-6 months old then?

 

[MagsC]

I guess I am just a softie but I would give her some more time.

 

[TeaLady]

Quote:
I stare pointedly at mine if I don't get the expected eggs. Doesn't seem to help, though. Those first few ovulations are scattered for all of us.

I like the idea of isolating her... just to make sure before she has her date with the dumplings. It would be frustrating to say the least, to cull her and then notice a drop in production.