Chickens stopped laying hay/straw suspect?

[cardgunner]

No new changes other then the addition of straw. I got 6, and all 6 are not laying. I don't know what breed they are. 3 are all black and the other3 are half black and white. Water is straight tap water in one of these water dish. It does get poop in there and we try to clean it out bi-weekly. I'm sure not enough. I'm going to be looking at better water ideas. No eggs fragments or signs of animals getting at the eggs. We did put 2 fake eggs, they look real. Fooled me when first introduced. I would think if my neighbors are taking eggs they would not take all of them every day. We offer no treats for our chickens . It just seems odd that all 6 would stop laying and for such a long time. I wanted to make sure it wasn't something with the hay/straw but it doesn't seem to be the reason. They have lost no feathers, and all seem pretty healthy. I'll stop as TSC and get them some treats. maybe they are just unhappy. Thank you all for such good comments and help.

 

[NatJ]

I'll stop as TSC and get them some treats. maybe they are just unhappy.

I wouldn't. Most things sold as treats for chickens are a bad idea nutritionally (most have too little protein, the others have too much fat, some have both problems. They all have too many calories compared with the other nutrients in them, so they tend to make chickens fat and unhealthy, which definitely does not help them lay more eggs.)

If you want to make them happier without having a big nutritional effect: give them a few dandelion leaves or lettuce leaves or a piece of cucumber or something like that. Those are mostly water, not much nutrition, but chickens seem smart enough to eat their usual food in addition to treats like that, and it is definitely healthier than giving them a bunch of extra calories they don't need.

 

[cardgunner]

I wouldn't. Most things sold as treats for chickens are a bad idea nutritionally (most have too little protein, the others have too much fat, some have both problems. They all have too many calories compared with the other nutrients in them, so they tend to make chickens fat and unhealthy, which definitely does not help them lay more eggs.)

If you want to make them happier without having a big nutritional effect: give them a few dandelion leaves or lettuce leaves or a piece of cucumber or something like that. Those are mostly water, not much nutrition, but chickens seem smart enough to eat their usual food in addition to treats like that, and it is definitely healthier than giving them a bunch of extra calories they don't need.

Oh they do get our uncooked vegetables discards. Carrots, lettuce, rice, peppers, NOT onions, and etc.

 

[NatJ]

Oh they do get our uncooked vegetables discards. Carrots, lettuce, rice, peppers, NOT onions, and etc.

That sounds good.

In that case, I would definitely not bother buying any kind of treats at the store. You have plenty of free things already to make their life interesting, and the ones you have are a healthier choice too

(Many of the things that are sold as treats COULD be used as ingredients in a healthy chicken diet, but they would have to be used in the right proportions, with the right other things added. So they aren't automatically bad, just not properly balanced, and they typically are over-priced compared with the cost of a balanced chicken feed, and your own free vegetable discards.)