New hens stopped laying ???

[kikster]

We just got our 7 hens about 5 days ago (thanks rooster97!

) and the very first day, one of the bantams laid an egg. But since then, nothing. My son found the first one that day, and was so excited, and now he checks like every 20 minutes (that's if /when he actually leaves the coop, it's like his 2nd home now), and is so distraught that there is nothing. Some are still pullets, so I don't expect much from them yet, but one is a 2 yr old Buff Orpington that was "an excellent layer" when we got her (she'd just laid one that day on her old farm, so we got to see the size of her egg, compared to one of the bantam eggs, who'd also laid that day at their old home). Is it common for hens that are already laying to stop suddenly when moved to a new home? Or could it be something else? Not predators already, I hope, we lock things up pretty tight, and like I said my son is out there 75% of the time! (Is he the problem? maybe they need some privacy, lol). Our place is smaller than they were used to, so after a few days in the small run we built, my hubby & son put up a new fence to give them a pen to run around in addition to the original run. We know nothing about chickens, so we don't know what we're doing wrong...



Other than the BO, we have her daughter (pullet), 2 bantams (don't know how old, but they were laying), 1 cochin (already laying, I believe), 1 frizzle (pullet)

 

[Gardeninggranny]

Yes a new home can cause some stress but adult hens usually adjust quickly. Your son just may be the problem. He is out there too much. As time goes on he will probably adjust too and get tired of spending all day in the coop- and when school starts maybe the hens will have some stress free time.

The other thing is that you just have the sellers word that the hen is two years old and a good layer. She may not be two or a good layer- you may have seen one of her few eggs each month. And your pullets may not have started laying yet. I don't know what bantam breeds you got but some breeds don't lay many eggs. Cochins are moderate layers.

Give it time and the chickens a little less attention and things will probably improve. Make sure they have layer ration and water at all times.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other post. Many times a move or any major change in a chicken’s life can cause them to stop laying. Give them some time to readjust. Good luck and have fun.

 

[kikster]

Thanks for the replies, I'm trying my best to keep him out of the coop, and give the girls some time alone

. He's homeschooled, so the school year will not cut the girls much slack, lol. It's also been extremely hot here lately, so I don't know if that makes it worse or not.

I did, however, discover something else that's making me wonder. When we got the chickens, the people that we got them from gave us some "food" to hold us over until we could buy some, when we asked what type of food to buy. She showed my husband the bag (I never saw it) and then poured some into another bag for us to take home. We fed them this food, and have been doing research on what type of food they need, and such, when something struck me as odd. I kept reading about scratch, mash, pellets, and realized that what we had sounded alot like what scratch was. So we went to the feed store yesterday, to get more feed, and lo and behold the stuff that we'd been feeding them looked exactly like what was in the scratch bin! It looked nothing like any other type of feed that was there (starter, pellets, mash, etc). Now we didn't know the first thing about what the food was supposed to look like, we just took their word for it at the time, until we did the research for ourselves. I think that they'd been eating scratch as their sole source of food. Then I remembered that when we were shown one of the eggs from our oldest hen, Margaret (BO) , we were told, "Oh it's a little deformed 'cuz she needs more calcium, or something.."

Poor baby, although, she looks pretty healthy (as far as I know, I mean she doesn't look scrawny or starving). Is is possible that she was fed only scratch? Is there another type of food that looks just like it? My hubby is pretty sure that it is (remember, he saw the original bag), and she said it was just something she bought from walmart, though, I haven't seen it at my local one. If they were brought up on scratch, how bad will that affect them? and what can I do to help them nutrition wise?

Here's some pics of Margaret (sorry so blurry):

and here she is with her baby "Nugget"

 

[chookchick]

If they were allowed to free-range, they were probably able to get all the other nutrients, esp. protein and calcium, that they need. If they are in a run, it is VERY important that they get good nutrition, especially calcium for the egg shells and protein. Be sure to get them a good laying food, and also provide them with oystershell free choice. I would give them greens, such as weeds or grass clippings, and some washed cottage cheese for protein if they are not ranging. I am dealing with egg-eating right now, and I think it may be partly due to lack of protein, and a temporary lack of oystershell. Your hen looks fine, but give her some good care!

 

[kikster]

AAAARRRGGHH!!!!! Still no eggs! I don't know what we're doing wrong. My DH bought some layer mash so that they'd have more protein. Although now that I look through some previous posts, I'm wondering if that's smart as we still have some pullets, will that damage their liver or something? Or at least I thought I read that somewhere.

We just feel like failures as chicken "parents." None of our girls are laying, although Margaret sings the egg song EVERY DAY

. And our Polish ("Froey") is getting pecked to death, her crest looks so bad. We are wondering if we should find a better home for her because she's so low in the pecking order, and we don't have space to give her her own setup. My son (who'll be out of town this week) has become attached though, so I don't know what to do. She deserves better, though, and I'd feel worse if something happened to her because we couldn't provide for her special needs. So I really can't blame her for not laying...

Another problem (our fault) is, that we don't know how old any of the chickens are. The people that we got them from were "having issues" and were giving away all their animals (hens, roosters, goats, ducks, and a turken), so not much info was given. We just know the general ages of all of them, the hens (5) are all 1 1/2- 2 years and laying, and the pullets (2) are around 6 wks or so.

And someone is molting...

What can we do?