9-11 mo hens not laying/stopped laying

[RBering]

I have five young chickens (2 white rock--10 mos, 2 Wyondottes--11 mos, 1 barred rock--9 mos old). My problem is, I'm only getting two (occasionally three) eggs per day. I'm certain one Wyondotte and one White Rock are laying, pretty certain the Barred Rock has only nested once (don't think it resulted in an egg). The last two might be laying an egg a week--maybe!

I got my first chickens about 4 months ago in March (the two Wyondottes, plus two Delewares). I was getting 4 eggs/day at that time. A neighbor moved in about three weeks after we got the chickens and his Bernese Mt Dog killed our two Delawares (he has since built a fence around his property and we've fenced in a large area of our acreage for the chickens). We immediately bought two young White Rocks to replace the Delawares. About 1 month later we added two 5 mo Barred Rocks (one of them died within days of buying her).

After the fracas, we stopped getting eggs for a period, slowly went to two, then up to three, but are now back down to two.

Our chickens have about 1/4 acre to free range, plus I keep a supply or organic mash and fresh water handy at all times. They get fresh table scraps for snacks (fruit, veggies, cottage cheese, some meat). They appear to be very healthy (good feathers, eat well, eyes are bright and alert). Any ideas why I'm not getting eggs?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Jferlisi]

First off

. Do youhave bushes and stuff they can hide in? if so have you looked in there for eggs. Also where do you live? Hens slow down in egg laying if its too hot out or two cold.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I agree they may be hiding eggs somewhere or the heat.

 

[RBering]

I live just outside of Portland. The weather has been in the mid to upper 60's until just a couple of weeks ago. It's mostly in the 70's now, with a couple of 80+ days. So, it doesn't seem like weather is a factor.

They do have some bushes to hide in, and I've tried looking for them in there. I have not seen any eggs, nor have I ever seen them hiding anywhere in there. any time I go outside to try and find them, I can usually find them around their coop, in one of their two dusting area's, or out ranging. So, it does not seem like they are laying outside the coop. I'll definitely do another thorough run-through to check, though.

I wonder if it's possible they are still traumatized?? (My timeline is a little off in my original post--we got the two White Rock's right after the first Delaware was killed. Unfortunately, the dog got the second one about a week later, before the owners really believed that their dog was a threat to our chickens.) So, both Wyandottes and both White Rock's were exposed to the chicken killer dog.

 

[RBering]

Update. My hens FINALLY started laying this spring. They went an entire year of an egg here and there before we started getting a consistent number of eggs (we are now getting 4-5 out of 7 hens).

 

[n8ivetxn]

That's incredible. I don't think I could wait that long! I have a Buff Orp pullet, I bought her as a broody, I think in the 4 months I've had her she's laid 3 eggs. I hate to cull her because she's so young, but I'm not sure what to do.

Congratulations!