point of lay

hey guys.

couple of questions regarding my girlies ( Bella, Daisy, Minnie, Peggy & Sue)

a couple of weeks ago i decided to add peggy and sue to my existing trio of birds.

The first three were 3 months old at this point.  Id had them since 4/6 weeks.

I can handle Bella Daisy and Minnie with no problem.

When i Got Peggy and Sue from their owner they were 5 months old (advertised as point of lay).  They are very flappy and as much as they are getting more familiar with me i still cant get close enough to handle them without them flying up in  my face lol.

Are there any tips/tricks to get the fiestier two settled downand used to handling?  Im worried that if something were to start to go wrong with them I wouldnt be able to get close enough to identify / monitor it, or get them into a carry cage!

Also, although they were advertised point of lay, im yet to see any eggs.  Will this just be down to the colder weather kicking in ( if so does this mean i wont see any until spring?)?
  I dont think I overfeed them, although they never seem to finish their pellets and freerange for most of the day.

No major concerns here, just a few curiosities.


Thanks in advance for your wisdom

Derek

I have a 22 week old Welsummer bantam that is not laying yet and I don't think she will within the next month as her comb and wattle are not red yet.

My Black Rocks were 26 weeks old before the first one started to lay and 28 weeks old for the last one.

You can try stroking your hens gently when they are roosting and don't make any sudden movements they will soon get used to you.  You need to do it regularly and talk to them quietly.  Make sure your neighbours can't see though as they will think you're nuts!!   

I got my girls at 18 weeks and they have been laying for about a 2 months now it was a waiting game as they where my first ones. I got the chooks used to me by hand feeding them with corn at night only took a few days and now they like to be stroked and picked up no problems. 

Some breeds are naturally flighty others will come for a fuss even if there is no encouragement. You can check them when they are roosting as they go into a trancelike state and are very dopey then. POL does not mean they will lay in the next week or so, but they will lay when they are ready and it will be worth waiting for.