still waiting for that egg :(

[simonas011]

Hello,

End of January i bought 4 birds (2 of which died to mareks *insert sad face*) of the two that i have left (an australorp and a gold laced wyandotte)... the australorp started laying last week *yay* but the wyandotte (who was 2 weeks older than the australorp) is now 35.5 weeks old and still hasn't laid.. doesnt even look close to laying (doesn't have a big red comb or anything, in fact her face is still rather pale)... is there a chance she just won't ever lay? how long would be the maximum before she does???

also another question... in this coming spring/summer... i kind of wanted to add more chickens to my little flock of 2.... (i really desperately want a leghorn) but... i'm worried that if i add them, they may either infect my old chickens who i love, or they may be affected by the mareks probably still lingering in my backyard and die.. (the birds i bought were apparently vaccinated... but who knows) .... would you recommend i go ahead and buy? should i wait a certain period of time before i do buy? should i just be happy with my two and not tempt fate?

Thank you!!

 

[GitaBooks]

Some breeds of chicken take a long time to start laying. It depends on genetics, how they were fed, and just the individual. She should come around soon. If she doesn't, it may be due to parasites or some other problem causing her to be too stressed to start laying.

Here is a good source of information for Mareks. If your chicks were under 3 weeks of age, apparently they can't get Mareks, or something like that, which means it may have been another disease. I have a chick that's a month old who is showing symptoms like Mareks, but I can't be sure. I'm hoping it isn't Mareks, since that is contagious. We'll have to see though.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

I hope everything turns out. Good luck!