Eating Azaleas affect laying?

[tjcib]

I have egg envy...

So I just read that Azaleas are pretty toxic for chickens. Turns out, when we let our chicks free-range they would nibble at our Azaleas quite a bit.

Our next door neighbor, who we split our chick order with, has her girls laying pretty well (about 3-4 eggs per day w/ six chickens). We are only getting 2 eggs a week, MAYBE.

I feel like I've done everything I'm "supposed to". Neighbor has hers in a little coop from TSC. I built a custom coop from plans found here. We feed the same food from the same store. We even use the same custom feeder and waterer that I made for us both. But she is getting eggs and I'm not.

Could this be related to the Azaleas? Do I need to just be quiet and be patient?

They are Australorps hatched February 20...so 23 weeks old...

 

[Top Rooster]

Sounds like you chickens aren't laying where they supposed to be they most likely have made a nest out in your yard somewhere like under a bush or something. I have a hen who escapes her pin and mad a nest behind the lawnmower out of leaves and only escapes to lay in her special nest. If you keep then shut in their pin for a week they should start laying in their proper nest

 

[tjcib]

Sounds like you chickens aren't laying where they supposed to be they most likely have made a nest out in your yard somewhere like under a bush or something. I have a hen who escapes her pin and mad a nest behind the lawnmower out of leaves and only escapes to lay in her special nest. If you keep then shut in their pin for a week they should start laying in their proper nest

Thanks for the reply. Our neighbor is finding them everywhere.

We have actually kept ours in the coop/run for the past 2+ weeks because we have been getting fence repairs on our property (about 1/3 acre). Since putting them in the coop/run, egg laying from the one has pretty much ceased.

My sons have scoured the yard hoping to find eggs, since our neighbor was finding them everywhere...

 

[Top Rooster]

Are any of them molting

 

[Blooie]

Patience, Grasshoppa - just because your chickens are the same age, kept under pretty much the same conditions as your neighbors, and fed the same stuff doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your girls. Just like our kids, puppies - all critters - they all have their individual maturity times and you aren't going to be able to look at the calendar and see when they "should" have laid an egg. I doubt seriously that it has anything to do with the azaleas....mine even nibble on rhubarb leaves (I know, gasp, shudder!) and it hasn't affected them one bit.

If you've checked for hidden nests and made sure they aren't laying anywhere else, and looked for any signs of egg eating snakes or other pests, they are just taking their time. I had a Red Sex Link that laid her first egg at 16.5 weeks, and the other RSLs didn't start until they were 20 weeks, 22 weeks, and 26 weeks. I almost gave up on a Light Brahma....no egg until she was almost 30 weeks. So each chicken has it's own assembly line trying to sync up, and it takes some time. They've got this...trust them!

 

[Top Rooster]

I totally forgot about snakes, they are a huge suspect, they eat as many eggs as they want every day since it's easy food, they don't tend to hurt adult chickens though, are there any holes where a snake could get in?

 

[tjcib]

Are any of them molting

I'm fairly new to this, but I don't think so. Their feathers look very normal.

 

[tjcib]

Patience, Grasshoppa - just because your chickens are the same age, kept under pretty much the same conditions as your neighbors, and fed the same stuff doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your girls. Just like our kids, puppies - all critters - they all have their individual maturity times and you aren't going to be able to look at the calendar and see when they "should" have laid an egg. I doubt seriously that it has anything to do with the azaleas....mine even nibble on rhubarb leaves (I know, gasp, shudder!) and it hasn't affected them one bit.

If you've checked for hidden nests and made sure they aren't laying anywhere else, and looked for any signs of egg eating snakes or other pests, they are just taking their time. I had a Red Sex Link that laid her first egg at 16.5 weeks, and the other RSLs didn't start until they were 20 weeks, 22 weeks, and 26 weeks. I almost gave up on a Light Brahma....no egg until she was almost 30 weeks. So each chicken has it's own assembly line trying to sync up, and it takes some time. They've got this...trust them!

Thanks for the encouragement. I will check for snake evidence, though in our 7 years in this house, I've only seen one snake 4 years ago...