Egg-laying fizzled out after the move--what to do?

[deepbluesea]

Three weeks ago I bought five chickens and their whole coop set-up from a place about an hour away. There are five girls--one is nine months old and the other four are five months old. The previous owner told me that she had gotten several eggs from the older hen, but none from the younger. They all seem to have settled in well, but here's the thing: no eggs. The older one is a beautiful blue copper marans and she's very affectionate. She's even gone in and sat in the nest for an hour or so a couple of days this week, but hasn't laid.

Is this normal? Since she's starting to go in the nest, does that mean she's getting ready to start up again? Any other ideas about what's going on, or what I can do to help? In case you couldn't tell, I'm new at this.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

The younger girls could just need a few more weeks to be ready. And the older one may be getting ready. Any kind of upset in the routine can cause hens to stop laying for anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

Other than that just keep offering fresh feed, water, oyster shell, etc. If they look healthy I'd give them some extra time to settle in. If they look sickly at all (pale comb or wattle) dirty feathers, etc. I'd look into worming or spraying for bugs.

 

[deepbluesea]

Thanks!

They've got plenty of water, food, scratch, oyster shells (I work at a nonprofit who rebuilds oyster reefs, so I just go out back and sweep. ) and lots of room. They look healthy to me and are eating/drinking well.

It's good to know it can take a few weeks instead of a few days. It's also been incredibly hot and muggy and then incredibly rainy, so that probably hasn't helped.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Oh yes, the recipe for slowed production haha Hopefully they get comfy enough to start soon for you