Why not laying eggs

[pennymaggiE2]

I have a few question,

I bought two baby chicks back in April 2015 which now they are full grown hens and I still haven't gotten any eggs. In August 2015 I bought four hens that were three months old and they just now started laying eggs here in December 2015,


1. Why haven't the two hens I bought back in April haven't laid any eggs yet?

2. I am getting 5 to 8 eggs a day from the hens I bought in August . Is it normal to lay eggs in the winter?

I know that the two I bought back in April haven't laid any eggs because they sleep in a different area of the chicken coop.

Thank You

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What breed are they and where did you get them, some breeds can take a long time to begin laying.

 

[JeanR]

Well, for starters, if you have 2 pullets that were hatched in April and no other older hens, you are being fooled into believing that those hens you got in August are laying 5 to 8 eggs a day???? A chicken takes about 27 or more hours to develop an egg, from ovulation to shelled-egg in the nest. So one a day for up to about 12-14 days is about all that one dear chicken can produce. NOT more than one a day--except rarely, when one egg is laid early in the day, but held overnight, and one later next day. Laying an egg a day is like "birthing a baby embryo" every day-just pretty hard on a system to "put together" a new chick that often. Good feed and management helps Commercial hens laying most every day, but not often, do our breeds of chickens, lay that often (and then are only good for a year or so production--used up after that!)
SO, sleeping in another part of the coop does not mean that those April youngsters are not laying!! Catch those girls, and flip up the tail to examine their vents. If they are not laying, it will be small and tightly closed. If they are laying, it will be widened and perhaps a bit of moisture. Also,. listen to them talk. Are they still making a "cheeping" sort of sound, or now have a "voice" that "sings" or softly "clucks"? Pullets sing a few weeks before starting to lay, and then have a "hen": voice--and of course, they cackle after laying their eggs. Try to view which hens are "on the nest" (in your nest boxes) and check the color of the shells, size and shapes of the eggs. With only a few hens, it is often possible to identify each hen;s eggs--they are always the same from each hen,and most often just a bit different from some of the other eggs. AND when you are listening to your hens "talking", tell they what good girls they are. Feed them well, and see that those April pullets can reach food and water without being dominated by the 4 hens that you obtained in August. Happy New Year!

 

[Mahlzeit]

I would say they are all laying. Where they sleep has nothing to do with where they lay their eggs.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If two of your hens sleep in a different area of your coop then those two hens are not intergraded into your flock.

The pecking order is easily observed by sitting quietly and unobserved while you watch your chickens go to roost. There will be a lot of squibbing going on so don't get panicked, its normal. But there is no better way to learn about chickens than by watching them get ready for bed.

 

[jimbob86]

Quote: Unless they are sleeping in the nest boxes ...... AND laying there ...... but that would disprove our theory, rather than support it ........

 

[jimbob86]

...


... and if you are getting 8 eggs out of 6 hens on any kind of a regular basis, I think you should install a Game Cam, because we all would like to know what the Egg Fairly looks like!