- Feb 23, 2014
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I have a very pretty Welsummer hen who appears to me to now be full grown. I bought her about 3 months ago from a local guy who said he had wanted to start breeding Welsummers but hadn't ever found a cockerel he liked so he had decided to focus on another breed. I convinced him to sell me this single Welsummer hen that he had. He told me that she was about 7 or 8 months old when I bought her from him, and she's definitely grown and matured some in size and build since that time. He said she hadn't yet laid her first egg when I acquired her, which seemed reasonable.
But here we are 3 months later and still no eggs! She's housed in a clean, comfy coop and large run with a small flock of other backyard hens (no roosters) who are all laying just fine. She also gets plenty of free range time in our fenced back yard each week. She eats well - both the layer crumble and when she forages in the yard - and she seems to be at the top of our pecking order. She's always first in line when I toss out treats for the girls.
But so far, I've never even seen her go anywhere near a nest box, or display any other behavior that makes me think she might be interested in earning her keep by laying any eggs. The other hens over age 7 months in my flock lay daily or near daily in the nest boxes, and I'm 99% sure that no one is hiding eggs anywhere around the yard.
Could my Welsummer hen be 9 to11 months old, and healthy, yet still not be ready to lay? She's nice and plump and her feathers are beautiful. Is there something I'm missing here? She does have spurs, but I've read that this is relatively common with Welsummer hens, and doesn't mean anything with regard to their egg production abilities.
Many thanks!
But here we are 3 months later and still no eggs! She's housed in a clean, comfy coop and large run with a small flock of other backyard hens (no roosters) who are all laying just fine. She also gets plenty of free range time in our fenced back yard each week. She eats well - both the layer crumble and when she forages in the yard - and she seems to be at the top of our pecking order. She's always first in line when I toss out treats for the girls.
But so far, I've never even seen her go anywhere near a nest box, or display any other behavior that makes me think she might be interested in earning her keep by laying any eggs. The other hens over age 7 months in my flock lay daily or near daily in the nest boxes, and I'm 99% sure that no one is hiding eggs anywhere around the yard.
Could my Welsummer hen be 9 to11 months old, and healthy, yet still not be ready to lay? She's nice and plump and her feathers are beautiful. Is there something I'm missing here? She does have spurs, but I've read that this is relatively common with Welsummer hens, and doesn't mean anything with regard to their egg production abilities.
Many thanks!
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