Have my hens retired?

[bittyflock]

I have 4 hens - 2 are 3.5 years and 2 are brand new layers. Before I integrated the flock, one hen (a Wyandotte) was a great layer and the other (a Delaware) not as great but definitely laying. I don’t use supplemental light in the winter, so figured they’d still have a laying career in front of them, but once I integrated the pullets in mid-April, they quit laying. Now the pullets have started to lay about a month ago, but the older gals still aren’t laying. Have they just retired? Or do I need to give ‘em a chance? I’m on a small lot so don’t have a ton of real estate to host an old age home for hens, but I’m also vegetarian and dread having to cull them now or anytime in the future. Anything I can do to jumpstart these birds again? Thanks!

 

[nuthatched]

What do they eat and are they soft molting? You don't have to cull non laying birds if you don't want to.

 

[DuckyMolly]

I'm not an expert by any means, but maybe the integration has stressed them out to the point that they've taken a break from laying, and maybe once they're fully used to the new companions they'll start laying again.
Or... (again, this is just random guessing) maybe they've started laying their eggs in the locations that the new pullets have chosen? I know my hens have one nesting box that they all LOVE to lay in, and getting them to lay anywhere else is a chore.
But if my guesses are wrong, and your older girls have retired from laying... well... like nuthatched said, you don't have to cull anyone if you don't want to sometimes just the entertainment alone is worth the price of the feed.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess is the shock of the new additions put them off lay... and with day length slowly starting to decrease again they may not resume laying again until next year. Or, they could possibly start up again later in summer for a brief period before molting for fall.

 

[Morrigan]

My guess is the shock of the new additions put them off lay... and with day length slowly starting to decrease again they may not resume laying again until next year. Or, they could possibly start up again later in summer for a brief period before molting for fall.

Good post. Also, 3.5 years is starting to get a bit old in the layer-life cycle. Although some hens continue to lay quite well until they are 6+ years, I've found that about half of my hatchery hens start noticeably decreasing in production at this age.

Keeping in the eggs is hard when you have a small flock and limited space. At some point they either become pets or food.

 

[bittyflock]

What do they eat and are they soft molting? You don't have to cull non laying birds if you don't want to.

They eat the same layer pellets they always have - and I don’t want to cull them but only have room for 4, so kind of need them all to lay, at least part of the year! Hoping they’re just on hiatus