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

 

[SkyAJK]

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

Her tummy was ballooning and quite hot. The Vet is not an Avian Vet, but thought that there might be some internal laying and thus infection, balloon tummy with high temperature. The birth control is to stop her body producing eggs so she is not internal laying and time for her body to rest and repair.

Earlier that year I got another hen was sick with balloon tummy, doing the same sitting in the nestbox and not laying egg, but she was showing signs of discomfort/pain and quiet. I took her to an Avian Vet, they did an ultrasound, told me there are many eggs inside her tummy and it is kinder to euthanize her, so I did euthanize her at that time.
I took her home, open her up and there isn't any egg anywhere in her body. What she got was swollen intestine. I was of course very angry that they lied, they did not do the ultrasound & charged me a shocker fee for that. Since, I look for a good kind Vet and go with them, I don't go to Avian Vet. Just because they say they are specialist Avian Vet, they charges more. From my personal experience they know less than what I have been learning in this BYC forum.