Eggs, then no eggs, and now a broody hen at 31 weeks??

[aart]

A couple hours can shut them down from laying.........egg are 90% water....could last a few weeks.

 

[NTBugtraq]

A couple hours can shut them down from laying.........egg are 90% water....could last a few weeks.

Aart, over the course of this winter my water system has frozen 6 times...it's tough thinking that one had any more effect than the others, because all of the others had no effect on their laying.

 

[aart]

Well then that's not it I guess.....or number 7 was the straw that broke the chickens egg maker.
Sometimes there is no answer.

 

[NTBugtraq]

I hope you see the humor in stating an answer that says; "sometimes there is no answer". Why say anything then?

 

[chicklover 1998]

Because, sometimes being a sounding board for someone to figure something out, aart is usually great at figuring out problems for people but when aart runs out of ideas then comes the I don't know, there isn't always an answer for everything, no harm in saying it but it lets the person asking the question know that the person helping can't help them any more, or they don't know the answer to the question, after many tries have been made at getting a good answer.

 

[Choco Maran]

I was not concerned with one of my pullets going broody so I left here in the nest for about three weeks. All the other hens piled in on top to lay their eggs and she just sat there. Then one day I picked her up and set her outside with the rest and she never went back to the nest. I actually was thinking of putting some eggs under her but was afraid she might get up and leave since she had been there for so long. She was a blue red lace Wyandotte.

 

[aart]

I hope you see the humor in stating an answer that says; "sometimes there is no answer". Why say anything then?

Yes, I do, and am glad you see the humor too. ;-)

We can ask questions, speculate, try to figure out something that may have caused a situation,
but it often does boil down to no definite answer. Then all you can do is wait and observe.....an answer might come to light, or not.
That's what I've come to learn with chickens or any live animal, and many other things in life.
I lit my birds very carefully starting early last fall, all but one of the yearlings(18 months old) all molted anyway and stopped laying.
One started back up, laid 6 eggs then stopped again for another month or so. I have no idea why, it's just the way it is.

Sorry, I couldn't help you.

 

[BDutch]

If you put a light in the coop/run to get more eggs in wintertime, the chicks will stop laying eggs earlier in their live. A hen in natural conditions can lay eggs untill they are approx. 4 or 5 years old. If you light in wintertime to keep the production going the hen probably will stop when 3 years old (in general that is).

A broody Wyandotte or Silky hen is very common. There are more breeds that go broody quit often. A broody hen stops laying after a couple of days (when there are enough eggs) and if you let her stay on infertile eggs for weeks her conditions weakens and she easily gets sick. Better to make her unbroody. If you consider to hatch chuickens you best do this after 2or 3 days/as soon as it is clear that she is definitely broody.

Some chickens are easier to make unbroody then others. The cage with air underneath works very well but is not nescacerry for some breeds. I just close the small coop with the laying nests at night, so they have tto sleep in the covered and protected run (south allways open and east sides open all summertime) . This is the place my chickens prefer to sleep summer and winter.

 

[NTBugtraq]

try a different feed maybe, or add a supplement that is attributed to help boost laying, like sea buck 7 or omega egg maker or feather fixer or meat bird starter grower.

Thanks for the suggestion, I am trying this today.

Sorry, I couldn't help you.

Hey, thanks for trying!! ;-]

If you put a light in the coop/run to get more eggs in wintertime, the chicks will stop laying eggs earlier in their live. A hen in natural conditions can lay eggs untill they are approx. 4 or 5 years old. If you light in wintertime to keep the production going the hen probably will stop when 3 years old (in general that is).

A broody Wyandotte or Silky hen is very common. There are more breeds that go broody quit often. A broody hen stops laying after a couple of days (when there are enough eggs) and if you let her stay on infertile eggs for weeks her conditions weakens and she easily gets sick. Better to make her unbroody. If you consider to hatch chuickens you best do this after 2or 3 days/as soon as it is clear that she is definitely broody.

Some chickens are easier to make unbroody then others. The cage with air underneath works very well but is not nescacerry for some breeds. I just close the small coop with the laying nests at night, so they have tto sleep in the covered and protected run (south allways open and east sides open all summertime) . This is the place my chickens prefer to sleep summer and winter.

My oldest pullets are nearly 44 weeks old, and the youngest are 24.5 weeks old.