Can too many roosters cause my hens to not lay?

ahparks

Chirping
6 Years
Feb 20, 2013
12
0
65
I have 14 hens and 3 roosters. Some of my hens are older and most of them are young and should have started to lay already. I have a 5-year old Rhody rooster and I hatched five and two were roosters. All the roosters seem to get along fine since I hatched and hand raised the two young roosters. But my hens are not laying. They are fed a variety of of grains, vegetables, bugs and grasses, etc... Can anyone assist with my question?
 
If you have too many roosters, they can stress hens out a lot, which might cause them to not lay. However, I don't think that they are the only reason for your hens not laying. Is it possible that your hens are hiding their eggs? The daylight hours are also decreasing, which might prevent laying.
 
I have been observing my chickens and they seem content. They are not being chased, stressed out or they are not fighting with one another. There are debris of small and large feathers in the coop and pen area but I do not see any signs of fighting between hens or roosters. I can not let them out of the pen right now because the hawks, eagles and foxes are now prowling at day light hours so I am able to observe their behavior most of the day. They seem tranquil. They eat, bathe and rest together, but are not laying. I have not ever experience this before. I have always have had excellent layers. I have not ever had 3 roosters before, just one, Daniel, my oldest rooster.
 
I have been observing my chickens and they seem content. They are not being chased, stressed out or they are not fighting with one another. There are debris of small and large feathers in the coop and pen area but I do not see any signs of fighting between hens or roosters. I can not let them out of the pen right now because the hawks, eagles and foxes are now prowling at day light hours so I am able to observe their behavior most of the day. They seem tranquil. They eat, bathe and rest together, but are not laying. I have not ever experience this before. I have always have had excellent layers. I have not ever had 3 roosters before, just one, Daniel, my oldest rooster.

You say that there are feathers in the coop and pen area. This is the time of year when many birds molt. This could explain why some of your older birds aren't laying. How old are your young birds?
 
It happens with hen's that get help from roosters to lay, if the amount of eggs is laid, the ovarian empty. Usually they had to start the brooding time. But also I read that you keep them in, now the thing is, if you change their environment then they will also withdrew,
 
I have 3 leghorn hens that are about 3 years old. They are laying about every two days. 2 hens 7 months old that I hatched and two roosters 7 months old also from the group that I hatched. One of them is laying once a day and the other is not laying at all. Then there are 9 hens about 4-5 months old. They are not laying at all. That is the entire group. There is a mixture of Americana's, New Hampshire Reds, Black Jersey Giants and Leghorns. The Roosters, Daniel is a Rhode Island Red - 5-6 years old, Isaac, Leghorn, 7 months old and Solomon, Rhode Island Red, 7 months old. I had a beautiful Rhode Island Red, 5 years old hen but she was taken by a bald eagle in our area while they were free roaming out of the pen.
 

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