my chicken stopped laying after predator attack

[alsaulnier]

A predator killed one of my free range chicken in September. My other hens stopped laying immediately. Two of them have started laying again the other six have not. I don't know what to do about it.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Chickens live on the razors edge between health and disaster. Everything that happens might interrupt their laying schedule or put them into a downward spiral. This is why one ALWAYS quarantines incoming new birds for a few weeks because the change in location and stress of travel will drop their resistance enough for disease already in their bodies but held in check by their immune system to kick in.

Chickens are prey animals so they reproduce fast and evolution has not wasted a lot of sturdiness in their bodies.

 

[LtDanFan]

Related question…. In the last several weeks, to a month or so we discovered a problem with raccoons getting to the chicken yard. And then my cockerel was killed by a predator, a pullet on another day, and the rooster died unexpectedly (i think suffocation due too many cramming themselves into the smaller coop for fear of the bigger coop thanks to those coons, as he was found dead in the coop with no signs of trauma or illness and the ladies were fine). I have noticed a drastic drop in production recently. Like we went from 4-5 eggs a day (for 6 confirmed laying hens) to maybe 1 or 2. Can i do something to help them get back to their business and feel safe again?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are you sure this is not just a typical, normal seasonal decrease in production due to shorter daylight hours? I'm in MO and am getting zero to 1, sometimes 2 a day from 15 confirmed layers. We're down to about 10 hours of daylight so I'm not surprised, from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You could put a light in the coop either early in the morning or in the evening to try to increase production. It does not have to be a bright light, just enough to read by. You're farther north than I am. You might want to wait till everyone is done molting but I'm not even sure that's necessary. I believe 20% feed helps with that, myself, but some of my girls seem to be molting hard and slow this year. Due to the unusually warm weather? I don't know.

 

[LtDanFan]

Are you sure this is not just a typical, normal seasonal decrease in production due to shorter daylight hours? I'm in MO and am getting zero to 1, sometimes 2 a day from 15 confirmed layers. We're down to about 10 hours of daylight so I'm not surprised, from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

You could put a light in the coop either early in the morning or in the evening to try to increase production. It does not have to be a bright light, just enough to read by. You're farther north than I am. You might want to wait till everyone is done molting but I'm not even sure that's necessary. I believe 20% feed helps with that, myself, but some of my girls seem to be molting hard and slow this year. Due to the unusually warm weather? I don't know.

I thought about the possibility of a seasonal molt related slow down but the timing of the raccoon attacks and the stupid weather lately - like in the 50’s one day then almost a foot of snow and frozen water buckets the next and then a few days later back to 70 degrees could also be a factor i suppose. It’s just weird to me that it coincided with the raccoon attacks and the change up in the flock due to the three deaths including the roo who ran the place.
Production is secondary to their well-being, although definitely a consideration of having them in the first place. We have plenty of eggs for now but i just wanted to make sure the birds are not psychologically traumatized and/or try to minimize the trauma they experienced.
I’m feeding an all flock 20% protein blend, lots of mealworms, pumpkins, bell peppers, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc and ad lib grit and oyster shells along with any eggs we can’t eat and all the shells from the eggs we do eat.
I guess I’ll wait it out and see what happens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'd cut back on the treats. The more they fill up on all that, the less they eat of the 20% balanced nutrition you're paying for. At least keep it down to 10% of their entire diet, or about 1 Tbsp per chicken per day. That's not a lot, is it!

 

[LtDanFan]

I'd cut back on the treats. The more they fill up on all that, the less they eat of the 20% balanced nutrition you're paying for. At least keep it down to 10% of their entire diet, or about 1 Tbsp per chicken per day. That's not a lot, is it!

Good point, the all flock is in feeders and they are currently getting a scoop (i think it’s about 2 cups, but i will have to check today when i get to the house) of scratch and mealworms plus the random veggies every few days scattered to keep them busy throughout the day. Maybe I’ll switch to layer feed for the feeders and scattering the all flock instead of scratch with mealworms.