I have a group of six month old bantam pullets that are not laying yet. There are Cochins, Old English Game, Cornish Game, Brahma, some game mixes (OE X American or Thai), and EE. All of them look to be in good health, shiny and well feathered, eating well and active, and their faces are red like they should be laying. None of them do the "squat" for me, but I have seen the roosters taking interest in them. And...not a single egg so far.
They are allowed to free range (no, they are not laying out in the yard anywhere, I check frequently!) and they have a constant all they can eat buffet in their pen, I feed them a mix of Flock Raiser or layer pellets (whatever and whenever it's available, chicken feeds are only carried seasonally here and are very expensive when the feed store has them!), cracked corn, whole grains like oats, barley and wheat, vegetables, and wet brewer's grain. They seem to be getting enough to eat as far as I can tell, I don't see any signs they are underfed. They also get access to crushed up egg shells for calcium, and grit as well, both of which they eat a good amount of. I also offer them a dish of a mineral mix powder for livestock (it has feeding instructions for poultry too) and I see them nibble at it.
For a while this summer, a few of the pullets were hanging out in the nest boxes a lot, but they have stopped. I also notice that the roosters are crowing less than they did at first, and mating less. It was over 100 degrees every day for a month, but has been cooled back off for a couple of weeks now, I imagine the heat had something to do with the behavior, they just didn't want to move much. Me either!
So, is it common for bantams to go this long without laying? I've only had standards before. Or have they not laid because it was so hot, and they should soon? Or...? My husband is getting really frustrated at spending money and time on 40 chickens and getting not a single egg. I have some older hens (5+ years old) that I got for free that laid pretty good for a few weeks, then stopped laying again, I think they may be molting, but they haven't laid in over a month, I'm not sure how long molting takes them, I've never had hens that old, I got them to butcher but then they started laying lol.
They are allowed to free range (no, they are not laying out in the yard anywhere, I check frequently!) and they have a constant all they can eat buffet in their pen, I feed them a mix of Flock Raiser or layer pellets (whatever and whenever it's available, chicken feeds are only carried seasonally here and are very expensive when the feed store has them!), cracked corn, whole grains like oats, barley and wheat, vegetables, and wet brewer's grain. They seem to be getting enough to eat as far as I can tell, I don't see any signs they are underfed. They also get access to crushed up egg shells for calcium, and grit as well, both of which they eat a good amount of. I also offer them a dish of a mineral mix powder for livestock (it has feeding instructions for poultry too) and I see them nibble at it.
For a while this summer, a few of the pullets were hanging out in the nest boxes a lot, but they have stopped. I also notice that the roosters are crowing less than they did at first, and mating less. It was over 100 degrees every day for a month, but has been cooled back off for a couple of weeks now, I imagine the heat had something to do with the behavior, they just didn't want to move much. Me either!
So, is it common for bantams to go this long without laying? I've only had standards before. Or have they not laid because it was so hot, and they should soon? Or...? My husband is getting really frustrated at spending money and time on 40 chickens and getting not a single egg. I have some older hens (5+ years old) that I got for free that laid pretty good for a few weeks, then stopped laying again, I think they may be molting, but they haven't laid in over a month, I'm not sure how long molting takes them, I've never had hens that old, I got them to butcher but then they started laying lol.
