Hens On Strike!!!!?????

[minifarmgurl1]

My hens usually stay inside their big pen and coop, its fenced in. Sometimes since it has warmed up here i have been letting them out to roam our hugh yard, but they have been tearing up my flower beds..with all this yard and fields to go into and they pick my beds! ugh so i got mad and stopped letting them out. Its only been about a week and for the past 3 or 4 days now i have only gotten one egg! I am soo mad at them ! Its not like they have been out forever then all of a sudden couped up..dangit...they are only a little over a year old and they are Golden Commets hens. I have one rooster also. He usually keeps them happy. I need some tips/hints something please!

 

[minifarmgurl1]

Also...i have had great egg production out of these hens since they started laying..so many eggs ive had to sell them. I have 14 hens

 

[minifarmgurl1]

where are all the knowledgeable ppl at? LOL i need some answers please.<3

 

[jodief100]

All I can think of is they are molting or they are not getting enough clean water. They may have liked the water "outside" better and now are not drinking enough "inside" water. It also may be due to the warming temps, just not gettign enough water.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I'm not knowledgeable, but hens will do whatever they please - and if they could stick their tongues out on us, I bet they would.
Unless you see obvious signs of disease or pestilence, just wait and they will resume regular laying. Or you can always leave a cleaver near their coop...

 

[Annabella]

I feel better that other people have chooks on strike too.
My four girls that should be laying have given me one egg in a fortnight.
I keep telling myself and husband that they are my pets (but I am disappointed).

I live in eternal hope

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

If I up the protein percentage of their feed, laying usually picks up. Laying went way down when they first hit the grass (they gorged on it) but is getting back on track now.

meat scraps from the table are sometimes enough to do it. Otherwise a handleful of good quality dry cat food, or mixing some 20% Meat Maker feed or 28% Gamebird feed into the layer ration.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable, just what I've noticed in the flock.

 

[MontanaMomma]

Are you sure they are laying where they are supposed to? My hens lay in funny places sometimes and I mistakingly think they are on strike only to find a cache of eggs in the compost pile.

 

[minifarmgurl1]

Im for sure they are not laying...i have always had great production with my hens. I would get a dozen eggs a day then one day nothing but one tiny egg(new layer). They are very happy hens. They have one rooster, a hugh box of crumblems that never run out(lucky them), and a hugh waterer. they get out several times a week to roam my whole entire yard, which has a fresh water supply also. I am very picky about their coop, i clean it every sunday to make sure it dosent get fumy..idk what to do they arent sick either. they are spoiled rotten thats one thing to be sure of!

they are right over a year old. They are golden comets and another thing...they layed perfectly all winter too! i see others have been having same problem...so molting will make them stop laying? for how long?

 

[minifarmgurl1]

oh i forgot i am sure of where they are laying as for the lst few days weve had lots of rain and they have been confined to their space and coop..which is very big but also..my hens have always layed in their nesting boxes never anywhere else. their pretty regular hens..