why are my 26 week old chickens not laying?

[briancamacho]

I have 3 26week old hens 2 are silver laced wyanndote and the other is a red sex link. I live in Tennessee please help me i don't know what to do to make them start laying.

 

[brunettedixie]

A lot of times, chickens just take longer to start laying. There are a few things that would help the girls out.

Do they have boxes that they can lay their eggs in? Chickens need a private place that's safe to lay. You can put plastic Easter eggs in their boxes (filled with a little sand to add some weight) to show them where a good place to lay is.
Also, feed them layer feed and have oyster shell out that they can pick at. I hope your girls start laying soon!

 

[Katbird01]

I'm in the same boat Brian. My 4 BO hens are about 30 weeks and still no eggs I'm going to make some changes to the nest box and get some oyster shell for them. I keep threatening them with the stew pot to see if that will scare them into laying but so far no luck.

 

[briancamacho]

Thanks you guys i will try to put the oyster shells

 

[Wyandottes7]

Chickens usually start laying between 5-7 months old. Twenty-six weeks is right in that time range. Your birds are simply not quite ready for egg laying yet.

 

[briancamacho]

Ok but can you tell me all the things to do to make them lay soon

 

[Wyandottes7]

Ok but can you tell me all the things to do to make them lay soon

Just feed them the correct feed (you should probably start layer feed soon) and provide as stress-free an enviroment as possible. Make sure that they have nest boxes to lay in.

 

[RoosterDon]

Brian, I feel your pain. I kept reading here how hens started laying in 3-4 months. I thought this would happen with our eggs we started hatching, but nope, they all started laying around 6-7 months. We are in Austin Texas, if that matters climate wise. Not sure. All I know is that we started with different breeds and a sex link rooster, then started hatching and now have mixed breeds, and none have ever laid earlier then 6 months. Waiting for that first egg is excruciating. We did the plastic eggs, the golf balls, calcium shells, and of course laying feed, and unfortunately mother nature will happen when she is ready.

Our first 5 hens we purchased and I was told they were taking longer because of the new environment. Nope, since our hatched ones are following the same time frame.

And, we have multiple nesting boxes and places for them, so they have plenty of options of where to lay and plenty of privacy. They will start when they start. Not the answer you want. Sorry. But hopefully you get your eggs real soon. It is an exciting day when it does happen.

 

[KGreene]

I feel your pain.... i have two BR's and two RSL's that are the same age (28 weeks)... one of the BR's began laying 4weeks ago. one egg per day, six days per week (she takes Saturdays off?!?!? I think maybe she's a Seven Day Adventist...LOL)...None of the others have started laying although, today I did see one of the RSL's give a submissive squat to the BR Roo, sooooo, maybe I'll start getting eggs from her within the next day or two.... its hard to wait for them to begin laying especially when we read about the 16-20 week old birds laying.... but other than doing what we need to do god keep them healthy, I honestly don't think there's anything that we can do to "make" them lay until they're ready to lay.

 

[ShockValue]

Are any of you who are waiting doing the free range thing? I've heard plenty of stories of free-range chickens "taking forever to start laying" and then the owner finding a hidden stash of eggs because they had been laying for weeks.