3 /4 Year old chickens not laying eggs...

[jschway]

They stopped laying in the middle of summer... Its now fall. I fed them layer pellets. They have ran out of water a few times for less than a day but have since upgraded to an extra water dish. They have been roosting in their nest box.. which leads to lots of chicken poop in the box. I don't see any signs of eggs shells from them eating their eggs. I dont see signs of other critters in the coop. They don't free range much.

Any ideas?

 

[chickenraiser24]

They could be egg bound. I recommend looking at this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/922652/egg-bound-chicken-please-help

 

[jschway]

Thanks. They are not acting unusual as stated in the post. I may give them some milk to increase their calcium. Can't hurt.

 

[aart]

They are 3 or 4 years old?

 

[jschway]

Yes 3 years old. 4 years next spring (2016)

 

[aart]

Running out of water is not good, can put them off laying for quite awhile.
They could well be molting also.
They probably need more protein if you are only feeding layer and other 'treats' too.
Oyster shell in a separate dish is always a good idea.


My Feeding Notes: I like to feed a 'flock raiser' 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.