Hens not laying

[B.D.S. poultry]

I have a barred rock hen that is over a year old had chicks when i got her the chicks are sold to my friend and she still wont lay the chicks have been gone for two weeks now and wont produce eggs i also have two new hens a silver wyndott and a red star that wont lay they have been at my house for 3 weeks now and have not gave me eggs i am getting frustrated with what is going on and want to know why they arnt laying

 

[the simple life]

I am not sure I completely understand, are you saying that the chicks she had are now 4 months old and that was the last time she had any eggs.

 

[IBMERRY]

I have about 35 hens of ages 8 months to 3 years. I have seen that when I moved the older hens to my place they did not lay for about a month and then BAMM !!! The younger ones have started laying now for about 3 weeks. Now last week we seperated the flock to three different runs, put the lights on timers from 4am till 8 pm and then put a rooster in each run. It took about two days and the results have been very favorable. The hens are laying alot more and everyone seems to be alot happier.
There are some ppl that will say that a rooster will make your hens lay more, some ppl say its all myth. I dont knwo for sure, but it worked for me. Now relize I do live about 4 miles from the Arizona and Mexican line ! The runs are facing south and the sun is coming more from the south as it will untill the end of spring.
I am new to the chicken thing and I have alot of "mature" ppl here tell me to try this or try that ! So far its all good.
Good luck and I hope your hens start to lay. It might be a good thing to bring in a rooster and put him in an ajoining pen just to see if he will get them back on track.
Robby

 

[ibpboo]

Sometimes it takes about a month for hens to start laying again after a move. Also, if they are close to a molt, they will stop laying through the molt, that takes about a month or so, too. One of my hens are molting right now, she has already lost all her feathers, and they are starting to grow back in now. I have had my hens not lay through the winter months after a molt, and I've had hens that do lay through the winter. Also, after raising chicks, it takes time for them to start laying again.

 

[ibpboo]

IBMERRY

I also wanted to add, that it is not necessary to have a rooster for hens to lay eggs. Its a personal preference whether to have one or not.
Me, I do not have a rooster. Once I did and all he did was tear up my hens. But he also made the eggs fertile. So, really that is all you NEED a rooster for is to make the eggs fertile. But if you want a rooster, then that is another story. They are beautiful and rooster-red has a page on how to tame them, because they can get aggressive, as it is their job to protect the hens. When they get aggressive towards humans, it is usually because they are trying to establish the pecking order with you, and you have to make sure he knows you are the boss!!