shouldn't this hen/pullet be laying by now????

[wjallen05]

I have a hen (pullet?) that I ordered as a day old chick back in January (the only one that I kept out of that batch when I downsized my flock a couple months back). She has never laid an egg before... EVER! WHY?!?! I've never had a hen go so long without laying. I ordered her from Ideal. I just placed an order with them for some new chicks (Black Production, White Leghorn, and Gold Comet) since my current flock is not laying AT ALL! The other 4 hens are 2 1/2-3 years old, also from Ideal. They were all laying great for the last 2 years but just stopped. Guess because of the change in season.

*forgot to mention, she is an Easter Egger.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Are you sure she's not hiding them somewhere?

 

[wjallen05]

positive.

 

[DTRM30]

If you're positive she's not hiding them - my next guess would be one of these ...

Weather - very hot, sudden changes in

Stress - being harrassed by the other hens, weather, molting

Illness - internal reproductive deformity - internal laying - undetected illness that she is fighing off, but just hasn't shown external symptoms.

Age - she was hatched in January - that makes her about 7-8 months old - she may just be a late bloomer

Egg eating - she or other hens are eating the eggs (they will eat shells and all if in the habit) leaving no eggs to find. I can tell if my hens have eaten an egg because I will see a clumped sticky area in the bedding where the egg white was. Nothing left other than that. They don't do it often - but if an egg gets stepped on or broken - they will eat it without a second thought.

Of these - the weather, molting, illness and egg eating could affect all the hens - as you mentioned that none are laying. Even older hens (3 is getting old for laying) do still lay an egg now and then for the most part. My hens at 3 are laying about 3-4 eggs per week. They used to be 6 per week.