Pullets not laying

Ding Dong

I have a pair of birds in an ark in our back garden. I must of got the pullet back in September and was advised that the hen will probably start laying late October- early November. As of yet, not an egg to be seen. Will she hold off until Spring and longer days or am I doing something wrong?

Schlemm

How old were the birds when you got them?
And where are you keeping them and what are you feeding them?

Ding Dong

im not sure of exact age, but I bought them as 'point of lay' and at the time,, maybe september, that they were due to lay in late october- early november. they are kept in a small ark ie small house with a run that I got from Forshams

Demonique

Hens tend to go off the lay in winter

luckat

What Demonique says. Hens need a certain amount of light - normally about 16 hours per day - to lay, and they should start happily in as spring comes in.

Then, they'll start with the odd egg, but soon (as you take the eggs away) they'll lay for 20 days then try to set on the eggs and go broody.

If you do decide to let one set, mark the eggs with the date, so that you can take out new eggs that she or her friend lay in the same nest... wait a minute, what am I saying - you've no cock with them? OK, ignore that.

But they will probably still try to go broody on you.

Meanwhile, when spring comes in, add a little fennel seed (not to much, just a teaspoon or so) to their feed for a couple of days to encourage them to get their hormones moving and go on lay.

arctictree

Do you know what breed they are? Our hens are still laying but not as much now as in high summer.

Ding Dong

Thanks, Guys! Its a Rhode I Red hybrid (I think) and a Japenese bantam. Just because theyre in an ark with a short run wouldnt stop them laying would it?

arctictree

A lot of hens stop laying this time of year, especially if they are over a year old. They should start laying again in Feb/March.

We have light sussex hens and they are really good layers. I'm getting about 3 eggs daily from 5 hens.

A