What do people do when chooks stop laying?

[bobbi-j]

Most of the previous posts bring up a very good point. Ask yourself if the main reason you got the chickens was to have a few eggs or was it to give them a good home? I know it was probably both for you, but what really mattered to you most?

I'm not familiar with that breed, but Naser said they lay fast and hard early on. I doubt they will NEVER lay an egg again, but what to expect realistically, I'm not sure. An egg or two a week?

Have you ever received ANY eggs from them? How long have you had the birds?

If you you've had them less than a year, they might need more time to recover. I'm not sure how bad the battery conditions were. If I were you, I certainly wouldn't do anything to try to force them to lay, such as adding extra light in the fall/winter or feeding lots of cayenne pepper. Just let them be and perhaps they will lay for you some day.

If you're okay with the possibility that you may never get eggs (and it sounds like you are), your chickens sound like they have a good life.

If you're not okay with it, you might consider either 1) illegally adding another couple (non-battery) chickens for eggs or 2) re-homing two of your current flock and replacing them with new chickens. If you do #2, be sure to be honest with whomever takes them that there is a good chance they will never lay eggs. And if you don't want them on someone's dinner table, be clear about that.

You can be clear about that, but in all honesty, once an animal leaves your possession, there's really not much you can do about it. It's no longer your animal. I've found it's best to not ask questions after I sold a good little horse to a friend, only to find out later he'd not been cared for and they had to put him down.(She seemed like she really wanted him and would give him a good home - I'd visited the place, liked what I saw, but I guess things got ugly in her marriage and everything else suffered, too.) So from now on, I have a don't ask policy. Chickens, honestly, it's up to the person taking them. Once they leave, they are no longer my concern.

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
Of course, I agree you can't control the outcome. But you can make a request and the other person ideally would be honest whether or not they would be willing to meet that request. My point was that one shouldn't assume that placing an ad in the paper "4 free Isa Brown Hens to a good home" will give you people at your door willing to do just that. Most of them will be giving them a home in their freezer. I pointed this out since it sounds like the OP is new to chickens. Sorry to hear about your horse.

 

[88keysau]

Thanks so much everyone for the time taken to reply - it has been most interesting. We have had the girls for just over 12 months and for about 9 months they were providing 3 or 4 eggs a day. Suddenly they all stopped at the same time. There are no mites and they are healthy from the vet's point of view, just not laying.

We have them mostly for pest control and company, the eggs were a bonus and I honestly didn't expect to enjoy having my own eggs so much! I've been totally spoilt to have good free range eggs for the time I have.

As practical as it sounds, eating or killing them is just not an option for us -they have names!

We will probably build a bigger coop and introduce some other hens. I have been very wary of this option as I am told that the Isa Browns are big bullies and I don't want to introduce hens who may get hurt. We do have enough space to have a bigger and smaller coop if the need arises.....just don't mention that to Hubby please! LOL

We won't go down the ex battery hen path again unless we have miles of land and can provide a long term geriatric area for them.

This is a link to the chicken breeder about 5 mins from us - his chickens are really well kept and he is very knowledgeable.

http://craigsfarm.com.au/breeds/4585858225

 

[cary 1973]

if they all stopped at once are you sure they're not multin or it's due to the weather because that happens and they may pick up in the spring again

 

[Ridgerunner]

Have they just molted and quit laying until the molt is over? Have you been seeing a bunch of feathers flying around? This time of year north of the equator the main reason any hen stops laying is that she is molting. You are in Australia so that does not apply, but if they were battery hens, the lights were probably manipulated so they may think it’s fall, not spring. From what you are saying I would not rule out molting.

ISA Browns are commercial egg laying hybrids. They do lay a lot of large eggs and will drop off in the number of eggs they lay by about 15% to 20% after their second adult molt. That 15% to 20% is an average. With some individual it will be less and some more. With only four you don’t have a lot, maybe not enough for the averages to mean a lot. Still I’d keep them until after the molt if that is what is happening and see what happens. If they were laying 6 eggs each a week they may only cut back to 5 eggs a week each. That’s still a lot of eggs.

It is really unusual for any hen to lay a lot of eggs then stop permanently all of a sudden. If it is a molt, you are in for a big surprise in a few months.

 

[88keysau]

Definitely not a moult and it was Spring when they stopped laying - we thought it very odd!

 

[aart]

Definitely not a moult and it was Spring when they stopped laying - we thought it very odd!

I noticed the link you posted had an AU in it so figured Australia...putting your location in your profile can help folks give better answers/suggestions.

Is it really hot where you are? That can stress them and stop them from laying.

Do you know how old they are? Some production breeds can stop laying fairly abruptly.

Do you free range? They may be laying somewhere out in their range area.

 

[pdirt]

Yes. I agree it's odd to think it might be a molt because it was spring when this happened, but it sure sounds like one. Molts can be very very mild...it's not always lots of feathers everywhere. The molt idea makes all the more sense because they all stopped at once and all are ex battery hens, assuming from the same egg factory... I think RidgeRunner might be on to something with the suggestion the lights were manipulated and your hens might think it was fall when it was really spring when they stopped laying. They do some really nasty stuff manipulating the lights in CAFOs for egg layers.

 

[Naser]

I am told that the Isa Browns are big bullies and I don't want to introduce hens who may get hurt

You can do few things.
Buy a breed that it can defend itself " ask the breeder" but Plymouth Rock is a tough breed. followed by Sussex then leghorn.
You can beak trim the Isa Browns. I have done it myself and that makes them less bullies, and more importantly they will be unable to cause serious damage.
Beak trimming is operator dependant procedure. if you cut just the sharp part of the beak it is as painless as cutting your nail. if you cut more it is painful. but the hens will be fine.
And when you buy new hens follow the usual steps for introduction.
You are lucky to have such a breeder close to you

 

[AnnieE]

I have six chickens and got them primarily for bug control in the garden. I hardly eat eggs and sell most of them. They cost the same as my two indoor cats as far as food goes and the cats have never given me eggs. i plan on keeping mine until they die naturally. $26ish/month is well within my budget, eggs or no.