Hens stopped laying when we got new chicks

[mbcmama]

We have 3 black australorps that have been laying consistantly since the beginning of may. at the end of july, we brought in 3 new pullets (an australop and 2 barred rock) that were abour 12 weeks old then. since then, the big girls had a decrease in laying and now have stopped altogether! they are all healthy with no signs of mites or anything and appetites are GOOD (competing with the little ones for food and treats). the weather has been just as hot as all summer (we live in houston, tx) and nothing else has really seemed to change. just can't figure it out! we have looked all over the yard to see if they maybe laying somewhere other than the coop. in the last days, i have gotten ONE egg. we were consistantly getting 3 a day from them before the little girls came. any ideas??? THANKS!!!

 

[chfite]

Chickens don't like change. I don't know how long it takes to adapt.

Are they getting plenty of food? Are they now crowded due to the increase in population?

Chris

 

[mbcmama]

Yes! They are getting PLENTY!!! One funny thing is that one of the little girls is scratching about 5 days of food out of our PVC feeder! It's one of those PVC pipes that is 3 inches in diameter and about 3 ft tall with a "Y" on the bottom where they get the food out. The hole is only 3" around and they all can eat out of it no problem, but someone has figured how to scratch the whole tube full out on the ground!!! I have no idea how she does it! There's no place to sit on it! We kinda thought maybe it was the change. They better get back to business soon though!!! We eat a lot of eggs and only have a half dozen in the fridge! The coop is plenty big for all of them and they free range during the day too.