- Aug 13, 2014
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I have a total of 10 hens. 6 are just coming up on 1 year of age next month and the other 4 are another season older. We keep them separate, as the 4 were mean to the "babies" and integration attempts did not go well. The 4 are supposed to be all from the same "lines" of Black Copper Marans, though only 2 have the appropriate coloring. One is almost completely black and the other is a beautiful red. It took them FOREVER to finally lay at all, and they did so suddenly last winter. I don't remember exactly, but they were 30-something weeks by then and I found my first, frozen egg last Feb.
Both sets of hens went through a molt in the fall. The "babies" had a brief egg hiatus then, though only my EEs were even laying by then anyway. As of now, all babies (3 EEs and 3 Cuckoo Maran) are laying regularly. The "big girls" (who are, ironically, smaller) have never gone back to laying. They get the same layer pellets, the same table scraps, the same sun, etc... they went through a pretty intense molt, and just never came back. All of their combs are paler, still, even though they are re-feathered. Lucy, my red hed, is missing tail feathers, still, but she's low girl on the pecking order, too. Last I checked, I saw no mites on them.
What else can we do? Supplements? Something else to look for? They used to have beautiful eggs and they seem much too young to have just quit like this.I even gave them the benefit of the doubt and gave them through winter, but it's been consistently warm here and still, nothing.
Both sets of hens went through a molt in the fall. The "babies" had a brief egg hiatus then, though only my EEs were even laying by then anyway. As of now, all babies (3 EEs and 3 Cuckoo Maran) are laying regularly. The "big girls" (who are, ironically, smaller) have never gone back to laying. They get the same layer pellets, the same table scraps, the same sun, etc... they went through a pretty intense molt, and just never came back. All of their combs are paler, still, even though they are re-feathered. Lucy, my red hed, is missing tail feathers, still, but she's low girl on the pecking order, too. Last I checked, I saw no mites on them.
What else can we do? Supplements? Something else to look for? They used to have beautiful eggs and they seem much too young to have just quit like this.I even gave them the benefit of the doubt and gave them through winter, but it's been consistently warm here and still, nothing.
