I'm puzzled...why no eggs yet?!?!

[PJB]

Ok, so I know that the light is going and egg numbers are going down, but I haven't had any eggs at all from my two wee pekins and I've been told they are 8 months old. I got them mid August and they are healthy looking and eat ok, but no eggs! I know Pekins don't lay in winter but I thought I'd have had something before this stage.

They have both started to moult now and I read somewhere that moulting before they start to lay is a bad sign and they won't be good layers. Is that true?

My supplier told me they'd get enough grit from the scratching around in the grass so I have gone with that advice and haven't given them any extra. Would that effect the lack of eggs?

I feel I've done something wrong, and I'm not sure whether I have or should just sit tight until spring and hope for the best.

PJB

[TPeers]

Errr..... I don't pretend to be an expert but from what I have read and heard.....

To trigger 'full lay' you need 15 hours of daylight, so that is a bit of a non starter.
It is not unheard of for 'late' hens not to lay until the following spring.
Hens do not usually moult in their first year.
Grit should always be provided, not just sharp grit for digestion but oyster shell for calcium for egg shells. If provided in a hopper the hens take what they need.
Hens often go off lay when they moult.

Since I have a hen, who is now around 9 months old and has never laid.....

Don't expect any eggs until somewhere next spring!

I would see if you can provide some mixed grit and make sure that you give layers pellet/mash in the morning and no treats or corn until afternoon/early evening. That way you will be sure they are getting all the important bits of their diet. Like all 'children' they prefer the treats to the 'meat and veg'!

[CandJ]

I've got two Pekins and they don't lay either. Doris did at first (back in the Spring) when she was following our big red hen around, bu since she got chummy with PAtricia, the other Pekin, not an egg in sight. They have full access o any food and water they can find in big garden area, plus layers pellets, so I don't blame it on the food. We've just accepted that they're a bit rubbish but are still well worth having for sheer comedy value.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi PJB, time to start laying varies an awful lot so I wouldn't worry too much. The fact that they're moulting now is also a good reason why they haven't started, as they're conserving the protein for building new feathers. I suspect it's just a bit of bad timing, and come spring, you'll have more eggs than you know what to do with.
Pekins are lovely though, I wish I had room for them but all my birds free range over the hilly/boggy ground around us and I thought it wasn't good to get feathery-legged birds. What colours have you got?