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Blue Wheaten Pullet not laying

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DeWayne Edgin:
I have a Blue Wheaten pullet that just turned a year old and has never laid an egg. I read some posts on here before about a bone being out of place that can cause hens pain and not lay. Is there anything i can try to get her to start laying? She has been in a pen with a rooster since December. Just the two birds and no others. The weather has been warm here for a few weeks now and she is my only hen not laying.

Sharon Yorks:
Hi DeWayne,

Would her pen happen to be a little darker than where the other hen are penned? The reason I ask is I have a hen that was hatched last year on March 15th. She just started laying this past March 30th. With the weather we have been having, she wasn't able to get out much and her pen is darker than all of my others. It may just be a light issue. Is she looking and acting fine otherwise?

Another thought, are you sure she isn't laying and then eating her egg? Just a thought. 

DeWayne Edgin:
I do not think her pen is as dark as most of my other birds are. All of my chickens are in breeding pens outside under a roof that extends from my barn. There is only one wall and both ends and the front are open. I did have it closed up for the winter but my it wasn't dark in there. I have been out there getting eggs every hour and sometimes every half hour in the last couple months. I didn't want them to get to cold and i was incubating them. I never saw her in her egg box not even one time. some of my chickens will lay in a corner of the pen instead of the egg box but she never did. The weather got real warm here and i toke down my plywood, so they get lots of sun and fresh air. My Wheatens all came from the same guy and it toke my other ones 10 and 11 months to start laying. I got a Blue Wheaten pullet from a different guy and she started laying for me at 6 months old. I am guessing now that it is a problem with the strain she came from.

Sharon Yorks:
What time of year was she hatched? I noticed that some of my pullets that were hatched in late April or May wait until the following spring to start laying.

Beth C:

--- Quote from: Sharon Yorks on April 10, 2013, 08:18:40 AM ---What time of year was she hatched? I noticed that some of my pullets that were hatched in late April or May wait until the following spring to start laying.

--- End quote ---

Good point. I've had several that were over a year old when they laid their first egg, and I'm pretty sure it was timing. I mostly hatch in cold weather to avoid coccidia, so they hit point of lay in the hottest part of the year, and I don't get many that will lay in extreme heat. By the time it cools down they're molting. Even with lights it's usually December before I see an egg, and w/o lights it's March. However, the 5-6 month old birds that hatched under broodies (I always have a couple) in the warm months started laying right around the same time as the one-year-olds. Wish I could hatch birds in October!

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