When will little Welly lay?

[SCinCO]

 

[DT12]

From the looks of her comb any day now.

 

[SCinCO]

I feel kinda silly even asking. I know she will when she is ready, but still...
She is a Wellsummer and is 27 weeks now. The other 2 that I got at the same time have both been laying for several weeks.
I also have 3-three year old hens. She is a little smaller than the others, and I think the bigger girls are judge-y about her size and lack of laying, so she is the bottom of the pecking order.
I was afraid that the bigs were chasing her away from the food, and that's why she wasn't as big and not laying. I started giving her a couple handfuls of moistened chicken food every day, which sounds pretty easy, except...well...I think Welly is sort of curious about the taste of fingers!
She isn't squatting, and I haven't seen her check out a nesting box.
Just seems like she is super late!

 

[getaclue]

Keep in mind, as a general rule of thumb, the better the quality of the stock, the longer it can take them to lay. From the looks of her, it won't be too long.

 

[aart]

She is a little smaller than the others, and I think the bigger girls are judge-y about her size and lack of laying, so she is the bottom of the pecking order.
I was afraid that the bigs were chasing her away from the food, and that's why she wasn't as big and not laying.

Welcome to BYC!!
Chickens are not 'judge-y', that's a human attribute.
She could be smaller and delaying onset of lay because she is low on the pecking order and not getting enough feed or just stressed. Multiple feed/water stations might be in order, depending on how many birds you have all together and what their housing is like. I'd check her crop after dark when they are on the roost to make sure she is eating, a healthy bird goes to roost with a full crop.

Since you have 2 other Wellies, might all 3 be laying and they just haven't all laid on the same day? Wellie's aren't particularly prolific layers, they all may only be laying 3-4 eggs per week.

Another thing to think about is if you free range she may be laying elsewhere, again because of her low status in the flock she may be being bullied way from the nests.

Only way to know for sure is a butt check.
Vent Appearance:
Dry, tight, and smaller - usually not laying.
Moist, wide, and larger - usually laying.

Pelvic Points, feel for the 2 bony points(pelvic bones F-F) on either side of vent:
Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying.
More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.
(Spacing is relative with chickens size and humans finger size.)

 

[sourland]

She's just slower maturing, but is right on the brink of starting egg laying.

 

[N F C]

I got chicks from another BYC member in April of this year, 1 of them being a Welsummer. She was a bit later laying than the other girls I got but started when she was a bit over 5 months old. The person I got her from said he has had Wellies that didn't start until they were almost a year old, I was lucky with mine I guess.

Anyway, some good points from @aart (as usual!). I agree with the other posters, it looks like she may be close to pol so be patient, she'll get there!

 

[microchick]

She's a doll baby for sure and yes, I vote that she is on the verge of point of lay.

My Welly girls matured slower than my Buff Orpington hens. The BO girls were laying for a good month before the Welly girls started laying so be patient. Won't be long before you have your first brown with dark speckles egg showing up in a nest!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Reddening comb/wattles + squatting + pelvic bone spacing = EGGS
I always went by the red combs/wattles & squatting, just tried the pelvic bone spacing & it's TRUE!
My 4 BOs are 26wks, I suspected one would lay from the above "formula" last week and she didI'm still waiting on the other 3, they supposedly the same age/hatch

 

[SCinCO]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I really appreciate it.
I will try to be patient.
I make sure she has eaten before roost time by hand feeding her moistened chicken food. I feed her until she wanders away.
I have 3 waters and 2 feeders, for 6 chickens, hopefully that is enough.
The 2 that are her same age and have been laying are a speckled Sussex and an Easter egger. The other layers are a buff orpington and an astralorp. The eggs are different enough that I know who's egg is who's.
She still isn't squatting, the others squat if you even look their way!
I did try to look at her vent tonight, I hate to say I couldn't even find it through the feathers! It seems like the other's pop right out at you! Lol.
So, just more waiting...