Chickens not laying

[Raisin_The_Chicken]

hello! glad u joined!

 

[Tookie]

Welcome to BYC! Nice to meet you. Good luck with your flock!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

You got a lot of good ideas above! Don't feel lonely as lots of our chickens take breaks in the winter months, too, but the newer layers usually don't.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place to explore and hang out.

 

[muddy75]

 

[chrissynemetz]

Hello, and welcome to BYC! We're so happy to have you with us!

 

[Down Under]

Hi,
I have been rearing chickens in Melbourne, Australia for 14 years. My run is 20m2 and I let the chickens free range 1-2 each week. I have a flock of 6 chickens and every 2-3 years I introduce 7 new chickens raised from day old and gradually introduce into the flock. The current older chickens are - 4 at 2 years old and 2 at 3 years old. I introduced the yournger chickens into the run propper 5 weeks ago and noticed a 50% drop in egg production which has been maintained over the last 5 weeks and worsened to 80% reduction this week and no eggs today. The pullets have now started laying.

I try to ensure the chickens aren't stressed, I have lots of retreat spaces and mini 'rooms' for the young ones who are at the bottom of the pecking order and the chickens to explore. I have used the same 'Lucky layer' pellets for the last 12 months. I turn the run over with some free range seed for them to scratch through and I throw green weeds and food scraps in everyday, usually the afternoon. Over the 14 years I have never had a problem such as this where they go off the lay for so long. I am wondering what else I can do? Summer temperature over past 5 weeks on average has been 28 degrees with occassional 35 degree days. Love to hear thoughts from the chicken experts out there.

Hi RobJo,

There are too many variables in general to give an answer to that, but if you noticed that the egg production drop started when you put the youngsters in then it may have something to do with that but it also may be unrelated.

Some questions to help you work through it:
Have the pullets integrated with the hens or do they keep seperate?
Are the new pullets the same breed as the older hens?
Did you get the pullets from the same breeder or a different breeder?
Where do the pullets like to hang around? Is it near where the hens usually lay?
Have then hens started laying somewhere else because they don't want to put themselves in a compromising position around unknown birds?
Have there been any squabbles happening between any of them? Hen vs hen, hen vs pullet, pullet vs pullet.

Chooks pickup on things that we totally ignore and there maybe something that the hens don't like which is making them stress out.

 

[RobJo]

Hi RobJo,

There are too many variables in general to give an answer to that, but if you noticed that the egg production drop started when you put the youngsters in then it may have something to do with that but it also may be unrelated.

Some questions to help you work through it:
Have the pullets integrated with the hens or do they keep seperate?
Are the new pullets the same breed as the older hens?
Did you get the pullets from the same breeder or a different breeder?
Where do the pullets like to hang around? Is it near where the hens usually lay?
Have then hens started laying somewhere else because they don't want to put themselves in a compromising position around unknown birds?
Have there been any squabbles happening between any of them? Hen vs hen, hen vs pullet, pullet vs pullet.

Chooks pickup on things that we totally ignore and there maybe something that the hens don't like which is making them stress out.

Thanks, I was wondering if it could be stress. They are all Isa Browns from same origin. There are some squabbles between hen vs pullet but the hens rule the roost, so I am not sure why they would be the ones that are still stressed. If anyone is going to be stressed it is the pullets but they are the ones that have started laying. I guess my primary quesiton is, 'is it common for hens to still show stress after 5-6 weeks?' The hens did appear stresed in the first week of introduction with the pullets but, they appear pretty well used to each other by now.

 

[Down Under]

Thanks, I was wondering if it could be stress. They are all Isa Browns from same origin. There are some squabbles between hen vs pullet but the hens rule the roost, so I am not sure why they would be the ones that are still stressed. If anyone is going to be stressed it is the pullets but they are the ones that have started laying. I guess my primary quesiton is, 'is it common for hens to still show stress after 5-6 weeks?' The hens did appear stresed in the first week of introduction with the pullets but, they appear pretty well used to each other by now.

If the hens have attacked the pullets and the pullets haven't had a go back at all or worse the pullet had a go back and the hen thought that the pullet was worthy rival that could probably take her spot in the pecking order soon, then the hens will be stressing their heads off thinking that there is a surprise attack coming.

The other thing to consider is that they might have been stressed for 2 or 3 weeks and have been going into moult for the rest of the time. Mine have been moulting for the past couple of weeks as we head into Autumn.