So Our Hen's Squatting... Will She Lay?

[SulkyBantam]

Might need to keep them confined so they learn to use the coop nests.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

They aren't free range but they have a very big run. We do a daily egg search and as the weather gets worse they lay inside more.

That is not going to help matters, very stressful for the girls.
Might think about removing at least one if not both males.

No, we love our boys and could never get rid of them. They are sweet really, she is a bit flighty and runs away from every chicken. They don't peck her as much as the hens do actually.

How old are all these birds, in weeks?

The roos and pullets are the same age, about 5-6 months, perhaps a little older.

 

[aart]

They don't peck her as much as the hens do actually.

Older hens...like over a year old?

 

[SulkyBantam]

yeah 1 other pullet (top hen) and one layer of about a year. There's no real bullying though., Justy the odd peck.

 

[SulkyBantam]

So she and our roo just egg called! Can't find an egg though.. any advice?

 

[aart]

yeah 1 other pullet (top hen) and one layer of about a year. There's no real bullying though., Justy the odd peck.

Do you have older birds too?

So she and our roo just egg called! Can't find an egg though.. any advice?

Are they free range?
Has she been messing in nests?
Fake eggs in there?

'Egg song' doesn't always mean an egg....might just be practice.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Yeah could be practice. No fake eggs. No 'messing up' that I am aware of.

We do have some mature guineas and little bantams.

Not free range, but a fairly large area.

 

[aart]

We do have some mature guineas and little bantams

Do they lay in the coop nests?

No fake eggs. No 'messing up' that I am aware of.

Put some fake eggs in.....I'd be out there at least twice a day checking nests.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Good idea. I'll try fake eggs.

No, the guineas don't lay so much but when they do it's anywhere.

The bantams have their own house.

I hoped that our leghorn would teach her where to lay but they are not the best of friends.

 

[Ridgerunner]

First, on the squatting. I saw a 13-week-old pullet squat for a 13-week-old cockerel. They went through the entire mating act, tail raised and vents touching. She did not start laying for another couple of months. No force at all, she willingly squatted for him. To me a clear act of submission.

There are many things that are a sign a pullet may, could, might possibly be close to laying. Squatting is one of them. I consider it a good sign that it may not be much longer but I do not consider it anywhere close to a guarantee. The only guarantee is when I see an egg. Everything else is a maybe.

Chickens make a lot of different sounds and calls. Many of them sound similar. One that is pretty close to the egg song is a worried sound. It's a sign they are nervous about something. I've seen the majority of the chickens in the flock get worked up and giving this call. Nothing to do with laying an egg.

There is speculation that the egg song actually has nothing to do with laying an egg, that it's a "Where are you" call. If a chicken is separated from the flock they give that call to see where the flock is. A reason it is often associated with eggs is that after a hen lays an egg she wants to know how to rejoin the flock. I've seen some roosters leave the flock when they hear that song and go to the hen so they can escort her back to the flock. Most roosters don't but I have seen some do that. I've also seen a lot of hens lay eggs and not sing the egg song.

I understand the frustration of waiting for eggs. Most of us have been there. I once waited nine months for my blue/green egg layers to start. Then two did a couple of days apart the first week of December, some of the shortest days of the year and still getting shorter. They broke all the rules which means there are no rules. They will lay when they lay.

You mentioned red combs and wattles and the vent getting pink. The red comb is another may. could , might possibly. An indication that maybe. To me the pink vent is a better sign than squatting, egg song, or red comb that if could be close. But it is still no guarantee.

Good luck.