New layer was laying in nesting box now isn't

SweetandSavory

In the Brooder
Dec 21, 2015
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I have 9 hens, 7 are laying. 2 Copper Marans are taking their sweet time (Are they typically late to POL?)

My swedish flower hen started laying about 3 weeks ago. Gang buster, egg every day in the nesting boxes. (The rest always lay in the nest boxes) She stopped laying about a week ago when I got rid of 3 roosters (1 of them was hers) she laid 1 egg under the roost that 1st day which made me think it was a surprise to her while roosting. She hasn't laid since that I'm aware of until today when she made a nest under the nesting box and laid a smaller then usual egg. I have no idea why she stopped laying. We have 14 nesting boxes and 2 ceramic eggs in the boxes. There all clean, some have shavings, some straw, some both. They free range so I was wondering if she started laying elsewhere but it snowed today so I kept them in the corp & run. Any thoughts and/or advise would be appreciated!
 
Hi there -
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If she is eating/drinking and appears well, it may be that the change has upset her. Since she laid today, I would be suspecting that. give her time to adjust.
In my experience with Marans they are slower to come to lay...I think it's the European attitude...
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Hi there -
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If she is eating/drinking and appears well, it may be that the change has upset her. Since she laid today, I would be suspecting that. give her time to adjust.
In my experience with Marans they are slower to come to lay...I think it's the European attitude...
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Hi. I was thinking that about the Marans. The rooster is a little slow in his abilities also! 1 of the Maran girls doesn't seem quite right. She may been in pain because the rooster has pulled out her neck/back feathers. I think because she's not ready and he really has no idea what he's doing. Her comb is still very pale and she's sitting on the roost through out the day a little longer then usual. We do have Mareks here at the farm so its always a toss up whether its that or something else I need to worry about. I'm as new at this as they are :).

So you think the swedish flower hen will figure it out and go back into the next box? I messed up her little nest which I had read was the thing to do.
 
The stress of removing the roosters probably caused her to have a halt in the system, you have rearranged the pecking order and caused a bit of confusion, so it's normal for some to be put off, give her a week or two, she should resume laying in a more normal way.
 
Hi. I was thinking that about the Marans. The rooster is a little slow in his abilities also! 1 of the Maran girls doesn't seem quite right. She may been in pain because the rooster has pulled out her neck/back feathers. I think because she's not ready and he really has no idea what he's doing. Her comb is still very pale and she's sitting on the roost through out the day a little longer then usual. We do have Mareks here at the farm so its always a toss up whether its that or something else I need to worry about. I'm as new at this as they are :).

So you think the swedish flower hen will figure it out and go back into the next box? I messed up her little nest which I had read was the thing to do.

Your Swedish needs time to adjust to change. The Maran may be sitting on the roost to avoid the rooster. Can you separate him for a couple of weeks so her feathers can grow back?
 
Your Swedish needs time to adjust to change. The Maran may be sitting on the roost to avoid the rooster. Can you separate him for a couple of weeks so her feathers can grow back?
My Swedish flower hen started laying today in the nesting box. This newbie didn't realize that my guinea hen started laying and these weird locations are her's!

As for the maran she often isn't with him and at this point we don't have another coop, that will be fixed this spring! We also have wicked cold for the next few days so I'm not sure what to do with her. I don't think she ate today. This eve her crop was squishy. She also is one of my more skididh girls so she won't eat from my hand.
 
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My Swedish flower hen started laying today in the nesting box. This newbie didn't realize that my guinea hen started laying and these weird locations are her's!

As for the maran she often isn't with him and at this point we don't have another coop, that will be fixed this spring! We also have wicked cold for the next few days so I'm not sure what to do with her. I don't think she ate today. This eve her crop was squishy. She also is one of my more skididh girls so she won't eat from my hand.

Perhaps you can make a small area just for her? A large dog crate perhaps. Tempt her there with treats....keep an eye on her for a couple of days. Glad you figured out the eggs.........
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