Year old Araucanas?

[Cotton42]

I have my doubts. I got these girls for free off of Craigslist. The family I got them from said that they have had them for 2.5 months and when they got them, the breeder said they were 11 months old. The reason they were getting rid of them was because they hadn't laid an egg yet. I have a feeling that these girls are way younger than a year old and just haven't started laying yet. What do you all think? Any guesses on how old they might be?

(Please ignore the beer cans, my son has yet to clean up the recycling from a bbq last night)

 

[BlueCamas]

Since their faces aren't even a bit red yet, I'd say they are under 5-6 months. They don't look close to POL either.

 

[Leo1]

Well lets see they start laying around 5 months. So for them to still be younger than that now they could have been no more than 2.5 months when the family prior to you got them. I would say it would be pretty difficult to mistake a 2.5 month or younger chicken for a 11 month old. I would want to guess an exact age, but they don't look younger than 5 months to me. Hard to really tell for sure though. Do you know how much they weigh? Have they filled out yet? Perhaps something happened that messed with their laying.

 

[Cotton42]

I agree, it would be hare to mistake a young chicken from an adult, but only if you're familiar with chickens. The family I got them from didn't seem to know to much about them, so who knows. These girls don't weigh more than 2-3 pounds each, although I've read that Araucanas are on the smaller side. They ate like pigs when I got them home, so hopefully they'll fatten up.

I'm pretty sure they aren't old enough to be laying yet though, because their wattles and combs are only light pink and haven't really developed, but I've never had one of these before, so correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Cotton42]

Well, lookie what I found in the coop this afternoon! I guess they are old enough to lay!

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Congratulations!

Some breeds take longer to lay than others. Also, some breeds get much more red in the face than others. For example, my easter eggers have a much more pale comb than my Buff Orp, who has a more pale comb than my Barred Rock. So, sometimes we get fooled! I'm glad your mystery is solved. Your birds are cool looking.

 

[BlueCamas]

Congrats! Glad you know now!

 

[Cotton42]

Thanks! We're all super excited here, it's our first egg ever!

 

[Leo1]

That doesn't look like a first egg. It's looks kinda big for that.
Congrats and the girls look like sweetie pies, too.

 

[FogHorn79]

They look like a araucana. Mine are all black though yours look like they might be a mix of bantam. My Araucana lay a greenish blue egg. ones on right.