My chicken is broken.

[ElysianAcres]

I have 2 black sexlinks that we got for free when we moved into our new house, and they kind of freaked out when we brought our flock of 30 other girls to live in *their* coop. They were both previously laying beautiful large eggs, but the previous owners reported that one of them frequently laid fart eggs. One of them hasn't laid an egg since the day we moved in, and the other stopped laying after we'd been here about a week. It has been over a month now and things have settled down and the pecking order seems to be pretty well established, so I've been waiting and waiting for them to start laying again, but nada.
Here's the part that seems weird to me- One of them sings her egg song about every other day, and she even goes into the nest boxes and settles in as though she's going to lay an egg, but then just gets up and leaves after about 30 minutes and no eggs. I keep getting excited and then disappointed! Is this a normal stress thing, or does it sound like she's a defective layer?

 

[3riverschick]

Why don't you just rehome them. Sounds like a problem that needs more work than ...You have the other birds. Concentrate on them and lose these other birds. They are losers. That happens sometimes. Plus, if you have a rooster and they ever do lay an egg, you don't want to hatch it and have their get in your flock.
Best,
Karen

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

They need more time, no need to get rid of them yet. Most of my girls started laying mid August last summer. A month or so ago one of my red sex links stopped laying but laid in the box everyday and sang her egg song. After several weeks she started laying a few eggs here and there and after a little more time she started laying every day again. They are stressed out and just because we think they should "be over it" by now doesn't make it happen. They will lay again when they are ready.

 

[fiddlechicken]

I agree with ChirpyChicks1! That's quite a big change to go from 2 to over 30 in one space- hopefully they all have enough room! Also, any idea how old the 2 sex links that you got with the house are? It's my understanding- and I could be wrong, so please correct me if I am, everybody- but... it's my understanding that production drops off dramatically for sex links once they hit the 2 year mark. Perhaps it's a combination of the stress of a new flock, plus what would be a natural decline in production... again, if they are around the 2 year mark.

Anyway, good luck, and please keep us posted as things develop!

 

[ElysianAcres]

The previous owners said that the girls are both under a year old, closer to nine months old, I believe. The coop and run are both plenty big to house all of the birds together, and they're also allowed to free range all day. Part of the stress when we first moved in is because we did a big coop renovation as soon as we got here, so they had to deal with a completely new coop in addition to all of the new birds.
Here's one more thing that puzzles me: we have a rooster who is a total gentleman, he's never mean or pushy with any of them, but today when he tried to mount one of these 2 sexlinks, she ran away from him as fast as she could and he chased her through the entire yard trying to mate. Does that indicate that she doesn't yet see herself as part of his flock? I've never seen it happen before with her, so I doubt that HE is the cause of the stress.

 

[aart]

LOL at the title of this thread!

Might just take some more time, they are fickle little beings.

Have the 2 submitted to the roo previously?

From what I've seen, sometimes they plop right down for him and other days it's 'ForgetAboutItBuddy!

 

[fiddlechicken]

ElysianAcres- wow, sounds like you have a great set up for your birds!

We aren't allowed to keep roosters, here in town, and so, I don't have much experience to add in that respect- maybe it has something to do with where your Roo is on the pecking order? I have read about hens rejecting a roo who is lower in status, but I am sure someone else can chime in with more specifics.

Back to your sex links- it sounds like they haven't been laying that long. Is that correct? In which case, I think it's normal that they take some time to stabilize their rhythm. Is there a chance, since they free range, that they are laying somewhere outside of the coop?
Failing that possibility, typing in "Why isn't my chicken laying" should yield some helpful advise- it seems that you aren't the only one with this issue.

Let us know what you find out?