1 Year Old Speckled Sussex Not Laying

My speckled sussex is a little over a year old and I am almost positive she has never laid an egg. It wasn’t until 2 or 3 months ago that she started turning red but she is nowhere near as bright as my other hens.

Recently when outside and I’m by the run she will come to a corner near me and lay down and start to pant and start pushing but she doesn’t show any other signs of laying. It’s also only like 50 degrees in Washington and she has plenty of shade and fresh water. So I don’t think its heat or stress. And she is 1 of 3 hens in the run total so there is plenty of space.

Is this common? Should I try to make an outdoor nesting spot since she only seems to try pushing outside?

She looks show bred? My experiences is show bred hens do not pay very much, and are slower to mature. I'm not sure what the panting means. Usually they pant when hot or stressed.

oldhenlikesdogs said:

She looks show bred? My experiences is show bred hens do not pay very much, and are slower to mature. I'm not sure what the panting means. Usually they pant when hot or stressed.

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Yeah, when I look up the laying down and panting I’ve only seen heat stress or general stress. But she is honestly the most relaxed out of my chickens and only recently started doing it. But the weather has been under 65 and mostly rainy.

I don’t know if she was bred for show because I got all of them at a farm store and nothing was there to indicate her being a show bird. She was incredibly tiny when I got her so maybe it is just being slow to mature.
Thank you for letting me know about show hens I will def look into it!

Is she squatting - if so, she might be laying in 3-4 weeks.

youngbirdmom said:

Yeah, when I look up the laying down and panting I’ve only seen heat stress or general stress. But she is honestly the most relaxed out of my chickens and only recently started doing it. But the weather has been under 65 and mostly rainy.

I don’t know if she was bred for show because I got all of them at a farm store and nothing was there to indicate her being a show bird. She was incredibly tiny when I got her so maybe it is just being slow to mature.
Thank you for letting me know about show hens I will def look into it!

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She has much nicer conformation that the hatchery Speckled Sussex I've owned. The hatchery birds weren't high production birds either and were often the last to start laying in their group. Most at 8-10 months of age.

Mrs. K said:

Is she squatting - if so, she might be laying in 3-4 weeks.

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She doesn’t squat yet. But she honestly isn’t scared by me and just likes to follow me around. The other only squat when scared.

oldhenlikesdogs said:

She has much nicer conformation that the hatchery Speckled Sussex I've owned. The hatchery birds weren't high production birds either and were often the last to start laying in their group. Most at 8-10 months of age.

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She is over a year old. I bought them in early May of 2021. The other two bought the same day, different breeds, started laying before Thanksgiving.

That is a really lovely Speckled Sussex!

Has she started laying yet?

Winter may not count for a bird who didn't start laying before the days got super short. In which case the delay may only be since spring, so a couple months. Since you are in the PNW that may have factored in to a bird that's already on a slower schedule.

By the behavior you describe, I would suggest taking her to the vet