Chicken trauma?

[Nutmeg15]

Over the summer, we had an attack in our coop by a couple of raccoons. They killed two Barred Rocks first in the early spring, and while I was on vacation for two weeks with someone caring for my hens, the raccoons killed three White Leghorns, my EE hen and her best friend the barnyard mix, and my favorite, the lovable RIR Nutmeg in two more attacks. We fixed the problem after returning home, but our flock was left as three Leghorns, the final remaining Barred Rock and our last RIR. Our rooster was separated from the hens during the attacks. Since then, we have added 5 beautiful Buff Orps and two Dark Brahmas to our flock, and the Leghorns and RIR have started laying regularly again. However, our Barred Rock has not laid an egg since the attack, and even before she was kind of spotty and infrequent. The RIR and BR are around 2 1/2 years old, so from what I know she should still be laying, but I’ve also heard of trauma in chickens and she lost over half of her original flock. Is there any way to remedy this and help her? We still love her all the same despite the lack of laying, but if she is still experiencing stress after the attack (and integration of a new flock, although they all get along) then I would appreciate any advice for her condition. We’ve also had troubles with mites in the past but this doesn’t seem to be the problem now.

 

[feather13]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about the raccoon attack and the loss of your hens. A husky got into our backyard two years ago. It killed three hens and badly injured my beloved Black Sex Link egg-laying machine. She spent a few weeks in shock, but quickly recovered and is still at the top of the pecking order. She started laying eggs again within two weeks of the attack. I'm not an expert, but I imagine such an attack is very terrifying and traumatic.

 

[Latestarter]

So sorry to hear of your repeated attacks and losses. Raccoons can be some real bad predators to deal with... right up there with dogs. Anyway... I wouldn't worry too much about her right at this point as it's the darkest, coldest part of the year and many older hens routinely shut down egg laying over winter anyway. Come early spring, hopefully she'll start back up again for you.

IMHO if you bought your BR from a hatchery, 2.5 years is actually getting on in years. Many hatchery birds are not as long lived as heritage birds from actual breeders. They just don't seem to have the same vigor. She may be past her prime egg laying years at this point, evidenced by her being spotty even before the attacks. You have to decide to keep her and feed her as a pet, or move her along one way or another to be replaced with a new bird who will lay for you.

 

[aart]

Stress can definitely stop them laying.
Predator attack and addition of new birds both qualify as stressors.
Did your older birds molt yet this fall?

 

[Nutmeg15]

So sorry to hear of your repeated attacks and losses. Raccoons can be some real bad predators to deal with... right up there with dogs. Anyway... I wouldn't worry too much about her right at this point as it's the darkest, coldest part of the year and many older hens routinely shut down egg laying over winter anyway. Come early spring, hopefully she'll start back up again for you.

IMHO if you bought your BR from a hatchery, 2.5 years is actually getting on in years. Many hatchery birds are not as long lived as heritage birds from actual breeders. They just don't seem to have the same vigor. She may be past her prime egg laying years at this point, evidenced by her being spotty even before the attacks. You have to decide to keep her and feed her as a pet, or move her along one way or another to be replaced with a new bird who will lay for you.

That is what I am hoping as well. I am keeping her as a pet, as I keep chickens both for eggs and companionship, but we got her from a breeder in our area so I was assuming she would lay for a while longer. The RIR that is the same age as her is still laying every day without problems, and she started about a month or so after the attacks when the Leghorns first started laying.

 

[Nutmeg15]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about the raccoon attack and the loss of your hens. A husky got into our backyard two years ago. It killed three hens and badly injured my beloved Black Sex Link egg-laying machine. She spent a few weeks in shock, but quickly recovered and is still at the top of the pecking order. She started laying eggs again within two weeks of the attack. I'm not an expert, but I imagine such an attack is very terrifying and traumatic.

I’m glad she recovered so well! My remaining RIR is still at the top of the pecking order as well. She makes sure to let the new hens know that she’s the oldest and wisest of the bunch.

 

[Nutmeg15]

Stress can definitely stop them laying.
Predator attack and addition of new birds both qualify as stressors.
Did your older birds molt yet this fall?

My RIR has yet to molt, but my BR molted over the summer several weeks after the attack. We treated her for mites along with the other hens because that seemed to be causing the molt for several of them (there was a lot of head-shaking and feather picking involved). The new hens have now been integrated since late September.

 

[aart]

My RIR has yet to molt, but my BR molted over the summer several weeks after the attack. We treated her for mites along with the other hens because that seemed to be causing the molt for several of them (there was a lot of head-shaking and feather picking involved). The new hens have now been integrated since late September.

Then it's just the short days.

 

[Nutmeg15]

Then it's just the short days.

I hope so! It hasn't affected the other hens yet, but I'm not too worried anyways as long as she is happy and healthy otherwise.