Young pullets stop maturing

[Castlewood]

Hello again! We're facing another head scratcher. I know it sounds weird, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. We have a 6 month old yellow sex-link that seems to have stopped maturing.

The sex-link's sister has a full comb and waddles and has begun laying. She's about 2 weeks into almost daily eggs. The bird we're concerned with seems to have frozen in time. Her comb hasn't blossomed and her waddles haven't changed in at least a month. This babe went through a tough spell about 8 weeks ago. We thought she may have broken a bone or injured some soft tissue in one of her legs. She limped and hopped and became very listless. Time seemed to heal the injury and she's back to running around the yard. All that time injured however pushed her to the bottom of the pecking order.

Can all this stress in a young bird's life cause it to have stunted maturity? Is this familiar to anyone?

Thanks!

 

[MysteryChicken]

It's getting late in the season, she might be holding off until next spring to lay. One of my EEs are now 9 months old, & hasn't started laying yet.

 

[micstrachan]

I would guess her injury just put her a little behind her sister in development. If she is eating, pooping, preening, etc. I would watch and see.

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

I would expect the stress to cause some delay. Hopefully with good care she will make up some ground.