Ameraucana Not Laying

[AlyssaB87]

We got 4 hens from a breeder who was downsizing a little over a week ago. She said they are all between 1-2 years old and all were currently laying.

The Ameraucana was broody and she moved her off her nest when we bought her. She had been sitting on an unfertilized egg for 3 weeks at the same she was moved. The seller informed us that moving to a new location often rids the broodiness. We researched it and agreed to take her and try it out. The first day, she was SUPER vocal and was pecking all the other chickens. Now, they are all pecking her and she definitely seems to be the lowest on the pecking order. It's actually kind of sad to watch. She's terrified of us and the most difficult bird to catch.

She hasn't started laying yet. We've checked her for any parasites - nada. She's eating and drinking normally and we have oyster shell out in a separate container. She went into the coop by herself today but quickly came back down. She's been off her nest for 9 days... when should we expect her to lay again? Anything we can do? Anything we can do to stop the other chickens from antagonizing her?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Broody hens can take a few weeks to a few months to resume laying. The longer they are broody the longer the recovery period. I wouldn't expect much out of her until spring. She will probably go into a molt soon.

How big of a space are your birds in? How big of a space were they in? They are probably pecking her out of stress and confusion. Chickens don't like to be moved, plus if the person had lots of birds it's possible all your birds didn't necessarily get along or hang out together at their last place.

The more room you provide the less aggression you will see.

 

[AlyssaB87]

I’m not sure of the exact size of the run that’s under the coop... I think 5’x3’. The coop house is fairly small but plenty of nesting space (2 boxes for 4 birds) and the roost space easily fits 5 chickens and we only have 4.

I’m not sure what the size of the coop that they used to live in was as I’ve never seen it. They had a few dozen hens and lots of chicks and pullets so likely much bigger than ours. She said she used to let them range the yard from dawn til dusk until a predator got 14 in one day. I assume they were only out when they were around after that and cooped when not. I also assume that these hens had been apart at least while the Ameraucana was on her nest. She had about 10 laying hens at the time we bought and the indication was that generally they were all familiar with one another.

After a couple days of confining them to the coop so they adjusted, we let them out twice a day for a couple hours to range the yard which is .25 acres. We have one dog who has adjusted to the birds and doesn’t mind them. Another dog who keeps watch over the coop while licking her lips. She’s an extremely obedient dog so we believe she will adjust but for now we just rotate outside time between our dogs and chickens. Ha. The chickens definitely seem happier when able to get out. They also all get along for the most part when out.

 

[adstowe]

The not laying is normal for a bird who was broody and for a bird that was just moved. Your run and likely the coop (it sounds like a store bought set up) is way too small. 5' x 3' is only 15 SQ FT for 4 birds. That may work for a coop dimension for 4 birds, but not even close for a run. They should have close to that much for each bird. In that tight of an area there is no room for them to distance themselves from each other. The dominant one is packed in there with the bottom one and she has no ability to get away. A better description of your coop and run would help get a better idea, but but if your set up is even close to what you said you're going to have issues.

 

[AlyssaB87]

Seems lots of chicken people have different opinions on how much space is needed for each bird. We researched it in depth and chose what we read the most and thought to be reasonable. We built the coop and run ourselves so it isn’t a store bought thing and we intentionally made it bigger than some of those (our neighbors have 4 hens in a pre-fab TSC one without issue that is smaller than ours). Like I said, we let them out for a few hours every day (today about 6 hours) which was our intention when we built the coop and hopefully we will eventually be able to let them out all day/as much as they want.

 

[adstowe]

They are your birds and you are free to do what you want with them, but you said they get along for the most part when they are out. That is because they have the room to spread out. Chickens build a pecking order and they need space in order for it to work. If you don't provide enough space for the subordinate birds to stay out of the dominate birds area they will get picked on. 2 nest boxes is plenty for 4 birds. A 5' x 3' coop SHOULD (depending on your weather and of course your particular birds) be OK for 4 birds, but the run is just too small.
edit: I have 180 SF run for 15 birds and they free range from sun up till sun down most days. On the days that I can't let them out I feel guilty that their run isn't larger. It's adequate for what I use it for (mostly predator lock down) but I'd rather it be bigger even for the occasional day that they are locked up.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Unfortunately I would have to agree your coop and run are tight. Chickens in general are busy active creatures. If they can't burn off excess energy scratching and pecking, they will burn it up pecking each other. I have seen birds cannibalize each other due to crowding.

Certain breeds, especially bantams do well in smaller areas, but your average chicken needs room. In general a submissive member need to stay 5-10 feet away in order to not get pecked. Your set up doesn't allow for that. It's always best to give chickens as much room as possible. They can be vicious creatures when they feel they don't have enough room, and they have nothing to do all day.

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
So the 4 are the only birds you have?
Your first birds ever?

Amount of space can be tricky... what 'they say' can work, or not.
Tight space can work, but often brings problems.
Here's a good article by Ridgerunner about Space:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

Meanwhile...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[AlyssaB87]

Coming back to update that “Clucker” our formerly broody and pecked on Ameraucana laid her first egg 5 days ago and laid her second today! They are pretty small and a strange oblong shape that we assume will even out.

After I posted the original post, there were about 2 weeks when our birds really weren’t getting along with Clucker. They’d seek her out to peck her and would chase her out of the dust bath, away from the water, and away from the food (even when they were out free ranging). Two of the other birds were the worst and one didn’t seem to mind her. We debated A LOT during this time about finding her a new home. The other 3 chickens get along really well and it broke my heart to see the way they treated her.

As we are currently unable to expand our coop, we just made sure to let them out every morning for 4-5 hours and then again for 3ish hours in the late evening. Im not sure what changed, but they are all getting along really well now. Thank goodness! We rarely hear any squawking or see Clucker getting chased. She’s often in the run eating and drinking with no company. Around the time we noticed this is when she laid her first egg since we got her so we assume she is definitely less stressed than before.

Two days in a row after she laid that first egg, she went into the nesting box and stayed there for awhile as though she laid an egg. She would hop down and sing her egg song and... no egg. Is this sort of phantom laying normal?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yep. Some fake laying. Congratulations on your eggs. Some hens lay oblong eggs. The eggs will slowly enlarge, but generally hens lay the same type of shape of egg their whole lives.