Hen won't lay.

[ScoopTheCoop]

I have a golden laced wyndotte. She's a very healthy and pretty bird. I got her almost 2 weeks ago and she hasn't laid one egg. She's fairly big in size. I've been feeding them scratch feed mixed with oyster shells, aswell as wheat. I have them free range so they have all the benifits of that. Im just not understanding why the hen won't lay. Is she stressed?

 

[redsoxs]

It does take some time to get over the "shock" of a move for chickens.
How old is she? Other considerations are the molt as well as the fact that production really dips as the hours of daylight start to dwindle.

 

[ScoopTheCoop]

She is about 2-3 years old. The previous owner took good care of her. She's usually outside most of the day until 4pm then she hops inside.

 

[carlf]

Age plus the move and shortening days, might take her a while to restart. Give her time. Might also be starting to molt. Are you seeing a lot of feathers in the run?
My dominant hen is 2.5 years old, did a hard molt last summer and started a soft molt about 2 months ago. No eggs in 2 months and I'm not sure if she will lay again until spring.

 

[ScoopTheCoop]

I've seen lots of feathers in the coop but that's from one of my barred rocks. How long do molts last for? My one golden laced has been going through one for almost a month.

 

[carlf]

Depends on the bird, 2-3 months.

 

[chickens really]

Feed your birds a Layer pellet, oyster shell on the side and cut back on the scratch grains...Treats should only be 5% of a hens daily ration..Meaning a tablespoon per Bird...Granite grit also in separate dish.....

Cheers!

 

[ScoopTheCoop]

Sounds good thanks!

 

[aart]

Molting birds will do much better on a higher protein feed and don't need to extra calcium in layer feed.


I like to feed a flock raiser/grower/finisher 20% protein crumble full time to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat. I do grind up the crumbles (in the blender) for the chicks for the first week or so.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.