Chickens on strike

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

Hi all, can anyone offer advice (or reassurance)
I only have 3 girls, all around 21 months old. They started laying in November 22, and were pretty consistent up until December 23.
The Calder ranger (Brunhilde) hasn't laid since December. The Warren (Ginger) and Black Rock,(Rocky) laid sporadically through the darkness of winter, but picked back up again in February this year.
Now Ginger seems to be on strike as well, I can't seem to find any sign of sickness, the all have bright eyes, perky tail feathers, no sign of diarrhoea or discharge. Ginger & Rocky have bright red combs and wattles, Brunhildes are more pink and are only just starting to swell since moulting. Their diet is made up of mixed grain feed from a local agricultural supplier, supplemented with calciworm, parsley, cooked mince beef, a few grapes etc.(they refuse to eat layers pellets) and the supplementary food was recommended on this site. I read on here to try cooked lentils, but that had no effect. They get wormed with flubenvet, and have ACV and Verm-X
If anyone can offer any advice I'd be very grateful

 

[21hens-incharge]

Is the ACV a constant? If so it can ave negative effects in calcium absorption.

Did you try making a wet mash with the layer pellets?
Have you tried using a flock raiser formula? Mine certainly prefer it to layer pellets.

 

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

Is the ACV a constant? If so it can ave negative effects in calcium absorption.

Did you try making a wet mash with the layer pellets?
Have you tried using a flock raiser formula? Mine certainly prefer it to layer pellets.

Many thanks, yes I tried a wet mash several times, even mixed it with porridge which they ate but left the pellets.
Not sure what flock raiser formula is called in the UK, do you have a brand name?
We give ACV for 5 days every month, is this too much?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Many thanks, yes I tried a wet mash several times, even mixed it with porridge which they ate but left the pellets.
Not sure what flock raiser formula is called in the UK, do you have a brand name?
We give ACV for 5 days every month, is this too much?

A wet mash shouldn't have identifiable pellets. I mix 1 part pellets to 1 part hot water and let it sit 5 minutes then add more water until it is as thick as cooked oatmeal. If you let it sit after each water addition the pellets soak it up and break up.

A chick starter formula or feed designed for mixed flocks that include ducks and turkeys is what an "all flock" or "flock raiser" is.

I use Purina brand flock raiser myself.

Honestly the ACV really doesn't help so isn't worth the effort in my experience. Years ago I gave it a try and many of my birds stopped laying. Those that continued to lay had thin shells that broke easily. Once I quit the ACV things slowly returned to normal.

 

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

A wet mash shouldn't have identifiable pellets. I mix 1 part pellets to 1 part hot water and let it sit 5 minutes then add more water until it is as thick as cooked oatmeal. If you let it sit after each water addition the pellets soak it up and break up.

A chick starter formula or feed designed for mixed flocks that include ducks and turkeys is what an "all flock" or "flock raiser" is.

I use Purina brand flock raiser myself.

Honestly the ACV really doesn't help so isn't worth the effort in my experience. Years ago I gave it a try and many of my birds stopped laying. Those that continued to lay had thin shells that broke easily. Once I quit the ACV things slowly returned to normal.

Thank you, that's great information, Purina is available in UK I believe, surely on Amazon if not in shops, will give it a try and cut out the ACV

 

[nuthatched]

Do try to switch back to layer feed, their current diet doesn't give them enough nutrients. No healthy animal will not eat food if hungry, they just know that they'll get something else if they don't eat the healthy stuff.
X2, cut out the herbs, acv and extras. Vermx isn't a wormer, it won't do a thing.

 

[Perris]

Hi all, can anyone offer advice (or reassurance)
I only have 3 girls, all around 21 months old. They started laying in November 22, and were pretty consistent up until December 23.
The Calder ranger (Brunhilde) hasn't laid since December. The Warren (Ginger) and Black Rock,(Rocky) laid sporadically through the darkness of winter, but picked back up again in February this year.
Now Ginger seems to be on strike as well, I can't seem to find any sign of sickness, the all have bright eyes, perky tail feathers, no sign of diarrhoea or discharge. Ginger & Rocky have bright red combs and wattles, Brunhildes are more pink and are only just starting to swell since moulting. Their diet is made up of mixed grain feed from a local agricultural supplier, supplemented with calciworm, parsley, cooked mince beef, a few grapes etc.(they refuse to eat layers pellets) and the supplementary food was recommended on this site. I read on here to try cooked lentils, but that had no effect. They get wormed with flubenvet, and have ACV and Verm-X
If anyone can offer any advice I'd be very grateful

Do they free range? If so, they may be laying away, and the first thing to do in any case is establish whether or not each one is actually laying. This article by a long-standing and very experienced member of BYC tells you how to do that
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

I would do this before meddling with their food, since they sound very healthy from your description, and the feed sounds fine from my perspective. Do you fancy trying the butt check?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do the butt check to start with. It is a great place to start so you have an idea what you are dealing with.

Chickens stop laying when they molt. It sounds like one molted. She should start laying again after her molt is fully over. It is March s days are getting longer and her comb and wattles are getting pinker. It probably won't be much longer.

One reason people often think their hens have stopped laying is that they are hiding a nest. So that is one possibility.

Sometimes a critter is getting the eggs. It sounds like the other hen is still laying and only one hen's eggs are missing so this is unlikely. Since it is only her eggs this saves me a lot of typing.

If her vent looks like she is still laying I'd consider locking her in an area where she can't hide a nest for a few days. See if an egg miraculously appears. If this works she is hiding a nest on you. For others it could mean you have locked out something getting the eggs but that sounds unlikely for you.

If she is not laying it could mean she has started a molt or has shut down for a bit. As long as she is healthy I'd be patient and wait.

 

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

Do they free range? If so, they may be laying away, and the first thing to do in any case is establish whether or not each one is actually laying. This article by a long-standing and very experienced member of BYC tells you how to do that
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

I would do this before meddling with their food, since they sound very healthy from your description, and the feed sounds fine from my perspective. Do you fancy trying the butt check?

Many thanks, they are housed in a coop with a rambling run which is partly covered as it rains a lot here, so definitely not laying away. Each girl lays a distinctive egg, so I'm sure that only Rocky (the black rock) is laying. Thanks for the reassurance about the diet, I try to keep it healthy and interesting for them. I could do a butt check, but don't want to stress them out when I'm sure they are not laying.

 

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

Do the butt check to start with. It is a great place to start so you have an idea what you are dealing with.

Chickens stop laying when they molt. It sounds like one molted. She should start laying again after her molt is fully over. It is March s days are getting longer and her comb and wattles are getting pinker. It probably won't be much longer.

One reason people often think their hens have stopped laying is that they are hiding a nest. So that is one possibility.

Sometimes a critter is getting the eggs. It sounds like the other hen is still laying and only one hen's eggs are missing so this is unlikely. Since it is only her eggs this saves me a lot of typing.

If her vent looks like she is still laying I'd consider locking her in an area where she can't hide a nest for a few days. See if an egg miraculously appears. If this works she is hiding a nest on you. For others it could mean you have locked out something getting the eggs but that sounds unlikely for you.

If she is not laying it could mean she has started a molt or has shut down for a bit. As long as she is healthy I'd be patient and wait.

Thanks Ridgerunner, they don't free range, they are in a coop with a rambling run which covers quite a bit of the garden, there's no stray eggs in it and no predators, only sheep in the fields next door. I'm curious about the moult (UK spelling) though. This was their first one, and they didn't start until late December, I read it normally occurs in the autumn. The Calder ranger had the most obvious one, her comb is still smaller and pinker, the other 2 just lost a few feathers and looked a bit scruffy, their combs etc are nice bright red.