Hens Stopped Laying

[mjws82011]

Hello all... so we lost a hen last week and since then we got 3 new young hens about 4 months old and then we adopted 18 month old hens that were already laying where we adopted them from. The woman could not longer keep them because the city she lives in wont allow it. There are 5 of them and one other hen of ours was laying before all of these changes. Let me also add that we remodeled the inside of our coop we put a new floor in a few days ago. In any case we have gotten only 1 egg since Wednesday when we adopted the new hens. I am wondering if this is normal because they have been through a major change? I thought I had read that somewhere that stress can cause them to stop laying temporarily but I can not find it now. Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide.

 

[foreverlearning]

Yes, it is normal. They really don't like change. Some people get egg production back in as little as a week and others wait up to a month for it. Try and make everything as relaxing for them as possible and when they are comfortable they will start laying again.

 

[mjws82011]

Thank you so much, makes me feel a little better, they are also free range so I was beginning to wonder if we needed to go on an egg hunt. We have 2 roosters and 18 hens but only 6 of the hens are old enough to lay at this point. We love our flock

 

[foreverlearning]

I wouldn't worry about an egg hunt just yet. Free ranging does give some interesting places to find eggs though. My head hen taught everyone else that under the grill between the two propane tanks is a great place to lay. On the bright side it is right next to the door for my kitchen.

 

[chix88]

that's helpful advice .Ive just started with my first flock .I started with two laying barnvelders and four 12 week old pullets unfortunately one of the barnvelders was exhibiting extreme bullying and I had to give her to a local farmer .Since then my remaing barnvelder has stopped laying no eggs for eight days now .I suppose shes just adjusting to change of chicken dynamic ?She gets on fine with the younger hens but doesn't spend a lot of time free ranging with them .Is this normal barnvelder behavior

 

[foreverlearning]

Yes, it is still a change for the flock and can cause stress. Does she free range on her own? If she is not as active as normal then you might want to look into some other problems such as parasites or illnesses. Next time you have a bully there are things you can do to correct the behavior if you want to keep the bird. The first time you catch them you can use an isolation pen for 3 days to a week. This is a time out and can cause her to prove her spot in the pecking order again if she is out of the flock for more then a week. I have my isolation pen right in front of my coop so the rest that are free ranging can still talk to the bird in there and the one in isolation knows they are in trouble. When reintroducing to the flock you want to do it at night to cause the least stress. If that doesn't correct the issue then you can try pinless peepers. They are easy to get on and work like blinders on a racing horse. They will not be able to see right in front of them (for pecking) but can see side to side. It takes them a few hours to get the hang of it but after that they can eat and drink just fine. If that doesn't correct the issue then it is time to give them away or put them in a soup pot.

 

[mjws82011]

OK, so the issue is not the hens stopped laying which is a good thing, however, the issue IS that they are laying all over the place. We put new nest boxes in yesterday and it appears one of them laid one egg in one but it got broken however I waited until after 12 to let them all out and they immediately went to different spots and when I checked on them they were laying eggs, one under the porch one in an abandoned dog crate with hay in it, one in a pile of leaves aaaaaahhhh! So I have fake eggs being delivered today I plan on putting them in some of the nest boxes, any other ideas on how to steer them back to laying in the coop and not all over my yard?

 

[chix88]

thanks for that advice sorry about tardy reply ..not been on line for a couple of weeks ..still no eggs but I think once the younger ones start laying Martha barnvelder might get going again the weathers not been particually good recently ..cold and foggy she is free ranging with the flock but they are quite fast and more adventurous than she is