Chickens going into nesting boxes but not laying

[Mother of Chaos]

Ok, I always give them access to oyster shell, how often should I give them the other supplements

For the protein, one small serving a day, several days a week. For instance, I divide up a pound of ground beef into a cheapo silicon ice cube tray, one that I can twist out the frozen ground beef. So I might serve one frozen (and thawed) blob per chicken twice a week. Them maybe sardines or canned tuna or scrambled eggs another 2-3 times a week.

I would tailor this (serving more, or serving less) according to how the egglaying reacted, or didn’t.

There’s a lot of playing around involved with this sort of thing.

 

[Hannah J]

We actually have some frozen elk burger from 2021. Could I cook that up and use that instead of having to buy other stuff

 

[Mother of Chaos]

We actually have some frozen elk burger from 2021. Could I cook that up and use that instead of having to buy other stuff

I don’t see why not, as long as it’s just old but always frozen (not thawed and refrozen at some point.) I don’t give mine much, maybe 2 Tbsp (1/8 c, a coffee scoop size) at a time. I let them thaw a bit, but believe me, they can yearn tear through frozen ground beef in no time.

 

[Slaneyrose]

K honestly I’m more worried about why my 2 year old chickens are going into the eating boxes and then not laying. I get maybe 1 brown egg a week and I have 4 brown laying hens

More than me, I've had no eggs at all from my Barred Rock for nearly 3mths!

 

[Slaneyrose]

That is a mystery going to the nest box doing all the egg laying thing and no egg appears...I have one like that and she was less than a year old, then her stomach got bigger and warmer.....she was then put on birth control, it lasted 6 months no egg laying behaviour. At the moment her vent size is of a non laying hen, her stomach is a bit bigger than normal, and she is back doing laying egg behaviour, but walk out no egg. She is on the heavier size and feed 17.5% protein. It is a mystery for me.

Why was she put on birth control? What did the vet diagnose?

 

[Perris]

False layers have always been recognized in poultry handbooks; hens that look fine and act like they are laying, but don't actually lay. The current explanation for it is as a result of infection with a variety of Infectious bronchitis virus.
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultr...ive-system-in-poultry/false-laying-in-poultry