2 flocks, both duds, can't decide what to do!!

[lotzahenz]

Ema,

Thata girl, show them the pot! This has to be the most baffling thing ever for you. I know how much that feed costs and it is not cheap enough to have slackers in the coop. I think there are lots of chicken Pot Pie in your future. Show them the Movie "Chicken Run". The only thing left to consider is disease. You may have to get one autopsied, to make sure. What diseases cause NO EGGS AT ALL? Hum. Mystery deepens. I wish I could mail you some eggs, I have a surplus for a change since the days are getting longer finally. HenZ

 

[lucky123]

I woud try the pepper and see what happens. If you can get scratch to go along with their layer pellets its worth a try. Who knows the scratch and pepper might just jump start them.

 

[Ema]

OK so you are going to find this funny, I hope.....

I left the pot and wooden spoon in the barn last night, forgot it out there, and uhmm today I got 2 eggs

hmmmm maybe, just maybe, I need to bring the turkey fryer into the barn and leave it where they can see it???

Ema

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I apologize if someone else mentioned this, but I would put a few hens in solitary confinement (dog crates, etc. - with wires close enough to prevent a rat from carrying an egg out, as they prefer) and see if they're really laying or not. It would probably be best to wait until Spring.

If they are laying, look for stealth nests. I just found one last Saturday myself.

I find it hard to believe the problem is disease, unless there are other symptoms; nor nutrition, if the birds are otherwise healthy and content.

 

[lotzahenz]

Quote:
EMA: Hen psychologist, unusual but effective treatment plan: GOAL: double egg production every day, using her strategy. You should be to full production levels in what 24 days?

 

[lotzahenz]

Quote:
ME too on the disease, but all other factors are good. Even a very sick flock though will lay an egg or two. She is now using POT THERAPY, it is working!!

 

[JAHVREM]

just my two cents, but i had the same experience with my buckeyes, and then my silkies.

took forever to get the buckeyes back to laying, but the silkies, i caught the CANIBAL in action. there was no mess, no shell, nothing left as evidence. these birds are inside, with a pine chip floor and nest, and there was no evidence, had to catch her in action. she was isolated with a rooster and a bunch of 'TOYS', golf balls, plastic rods, even real eggs wrapped in plastic tape, filled her nest, and doggone it, she started laying, as did 3 other hens. it took forever for her to go broody, but i kept taking her eggs for a while. finally, she went broody on neon golf balls, so i gave her some eggs back. she has not eaten these. not only was she eating her own eggs, she ate every other egg as soon as it was laid!

on the other hand, my buckeyes quit for an enitre year. have no idea why.....(just curious, do you have a rooster? i didnt, and that might be a missing link)......finally, according to some old timers, i circled the hen house with an axe on my shoulder. at the same time, i put some mutt eggs in the nest boxes, and kept several 40 watt light bulbs in their coop, and i did it around the clock. it took a while, after i became determined, to get them to lay, but they did.

good luck, that is my experience, and never completely empty out the nest box, dont collect EVERY egg, make sure there are always a few eggs in each one, even if they are from mutts. my daughter and i feel they need encouragement, and an example. no kidding, it worked!!! good luck, don't get rid of 2 flocks, something has "scared" them into forgetting how to lay, it will come back (could they have been pestered by a snake? ihad that happen in an old coop), get those sample eggs and the lights up PRONTO!! and i am not sure about the flourescent bulbs, i use regular old cheapy 40 watt, in a fixture with a clamp, also have been known to buy sturdy lamps at goodwill 50% off days, and steal the light components, to hang in the barn for encouragement!!

 

[galanie]

I read you had one that was checked and found to be heat stressed. That would explain them stopping in June. We had unusually hot weather this summer and mine all but stopped because of it, except for one who laid like a champ all summer. Then stopped in September but is currently starting up again. The other older girls are still not laying. Heat stress combined with shorter days now = few to no eggs for a long, long time from them. The younger ones that only came to laying age in the fall though are laying now. Just a suggestion as to what part of the problem might be.

 

[The Lazy L]

Quote:
Perhaps something else is after the chipmunks AND your eggs?

Your trail cam...you mention nothing was seen at night. Was your trail cam "on" during the day too?

 

[Ema]

pot psychology is showing signs of working I got another 2 eggs today, LOL.

LOL Lotzahenz, full production in 24 days would be amazinggggggggggg, lol.

Galanie, the hen that was heat stressed was in the juvenile coop, you see the older hens were in the barn, in the summer, even at the hottest of days it is so much cooler in there, and there is always a nice cross breeze as during the summer I leave all the windows open, they are all secured with sandscreen the 1/4" so if the girls got hot they went inside until they wanted to come out to sun.

I made the mistake of building the juvenile's summer coop at the back of the barn, where I later found out its sunny from first thing in the morning till the sun goes down, It wasn't really until he one hen got ill that I realized something needed to be done, I figured if they got hot they would go inside the coop where I had a fan going. but nope, they stayed outside all the time. so I fixed the issue by putting up shades and adding a kiddie pool and extra waterers, which I changed the water several times per day since I was out there anyhow most of the day. I would mist the top of the shades and the ground and they just love it!!!! the hen that heat exhausted spend 3 weeks indoors with us, because she got real bad, and its funny cause now she is so used to the dogs she will come out running and perch on my saint Bernard's head

Lazy L, I did have the cam up for a couple nights and days, but we didn't see anything at all. just them ding their regular chicken thing, also the dogs go out often during the day and bark at the smallest things, like our snow birds, LOL.

this week I plan on putting them back on BOSS and scratch for night time, I have also included water heaters so I am not out there 2 or 3 times per day. I have decided to give both flocks till the spring and then we will re-evaluate.

ohh and JahVrem, I do have a rooster, in fact several roosters, the older girls have a very large columbian roo, and the younger girls have 1 columbian and 2 barred rocks, Our roos get along well, and they are gentle, the ones who were too aggressive became dinner.

Ema