Why would my 28 week old cuckoo marans not be laying eggs?

[oregonkat]

Are these birds notorious for late start? My hens are big healthy and happy so why no eggs? They are free range so I thought perhaps they were laying somewhere else so I shut them into the enclosure with the coop where every body else lays for several days, and nothing. They do not sleep in the coop with the other hens at night but prefer to be on a roosting pole in the enclosure, could this be a reason for them not wanting to lay in there? Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[mortie]

Where did you get them? Heritage birds sometimes don't start til they're a little older. I got some true ameracaunas from a breeder and one of them didn't start laying until she was almost 27 weeks old. The other two started around 24 weeks.

 

[oregonkat]

I got them from the local Grange Co op. I have not had any issues like this with any of the other hens from them. Can they with hold their eggs and not lay for several days if they dont feel like it or if they are waiting to be let out to lay somewhere else? Thanks.

 

[mortie]

I don't think they can withold an egg for days. I'm sure they have some degree of control of when they lay them but I don't think more than a few hours. If they're under stress for whatever reason (diet, environment, etc) their bodies don't ovulate and produce a yolk...so egg production gets held up at the beginning stage not the end stage. That's my understanding anyway.

I would say that 28 weeks isn't terribly outside the norm. Some lay a little early, some lay a little later than average. If their diet is good and they have fresh water available and nothing else seems out of whack, you may just have a late bloomer on your hands.

Are you sure they're 28 weeks? I've seen it happen plenty of times when someone thought their chickens were a certain age but when they post a photo of when they first got them, they were younger than the person thought.

Just throwing ideas out...

 

[aart]

Are these birds notorious for late start? My hens are big healthy and happy so why no eggs? They are free range so I thought perhaps they were laying somewhere else so I shut them into the enclosure with the coop where every body else lays for several days, and nothing. They do not sleep in the coop with the other hens at night but prefer to be on a roosting pole in the enclosure, could this be a reason for them not wanting to lay in there? Thanks for any thoughts.

Why?
Are they the new birds in the coop?
Is there enough room for them all?
Do they all get along?

Stress is definitely an egg stopper.

 

[oregonkat]

They are indeed new birds (4 of them since they were chicks), I have one boss b***** barred rock who thinks she owns the place and will push them around, but she pushes everyone around. The marans have never taken to sleeping in the coop but I assume that as the cold weather comes they will be in there. There is room for all, I only have 11 hens and my coop is designed for 14. The marans seem to have integrated themselves pretty well into the flock, at least they all seem to hang out ok together. If they were stressed, wouldnt they be showing other signs?

 

[oregonkat]

Mortie, I am pretty sure they are approx. 28 weeks. I got them March 8th of this year and as far as I understand, they were hatched the day before they arrived. Like I said originally, these girls are fat, happy, sassy and very talkative. They look great the diet is good as far as I can tell.

 

[hulk247]

Be patient. I have been waiting forever for my young pullets to start laying. Finally last week one of my cochins which aren't supposed to be great egg layers started laying. She had lasted am egg everyday since she started except for one. That 5 straight days. Still have one other Cochin, and americauna, and a gold laced wyandotte all the same age and still haven't started out don't even seem close. I think we just get caught up in our chickens laying. They will lay when ready.

 

[aart]

There are obvious(to us) signs of stress and I think there are other signs that might not be obvious to us but are to them.
Not laying at 28 weeks(maybe) and not sleeping with the flock are signs of stress.

Do you have a foot of roost length per bird?
The older girls may be subtly keeping them away from the nests....but only time will tell.