My Chickens are BROKEN!!

[madchickenowner]

Hello all!! New to the forums on backyard chickens been looking at the site for years!!

My chickens are broke and the need to be fixed.. warranty ran out long ago! LOL!

I have three rhode island reds, three leghorns, and three that I forgot what they are. (bad chicken owner) lol! I bought them in February of this year as pullets, raised my babies the best way lots of fruit in their diet store bought layer feed, same feed I used years ago, but this is what is going on. It is now October and I have yet to see a single egg from any of the chickens, check every day in the morning, afternoon, and evening and nothing!! What could be wrong? The runs is a 8' x 6', the coop is 3' x 3' x 6'. never had a problem like this years before when I had chickens, they were reliable, eggs every day had to sell them years ago due to medical issues in my family (many weeks spent at the hospital with my son). Any and all help would be wonderful!!

Thanks for everyone's time
Mad chicken owner!!

 

[gotthefever]

Cracked me up. I am waiting too, girls just about 6 months.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hello all!! New to the forums on backyard chickens been looking at the site for years!!

My chickens are broke and the need to be fixed.. warranty ran out long ago! LOL!

I have three rhode island reds, three leghorns, and three that I forgot what they are. (bad chicken owner) lol! I bought them in February of this year as pullets, raised my babies the best way lots of fruit in their diet store bought layer feed, same feed I used years ago, but this is what is going on. It is now October and I have yet to see a single egg from any of the chickens, check every day in the morning, afternoon, and evening and nothing!! What could be wrong? The runs is a 8' x 6', the coop is 3' x 3' x 6'. never had a problem like this years before when I had chickens, they were reliable, eggs every day had to sell them years ago due to medical issues in my family (many weeks spent at the hospital with my son). Any and all help would be wonderful!!

Thanks for everyone's time
Mad chicken owner!!

Hi -
Can you post photos of your birds - we can help you with the breed of the third group and also assess their closeness to the point of lay. I know you have kept birds before, and am not asking to question your experience, but are you certain that they are, indeed, pullets - even those sold as sexed pullets can end up as surprise cockerels, which would mean the wait you are facing for eggs will be quite long - though it is unlikely that ALL of the birds would be mis-sexed.
What feed are you using?
Do the birds free range at all or are they confined to the coop/run 24/7?

 

[madchickenowner]

Hi -
Can you post photos of your birds - we can help you with the breed of the third group and also assess their closeness to the point of lay. I know you have kept birds before, and am not asking to question your experience, but are you certain that they are, indeed, pullets - even those sold as sexed pullets can end up as surprise cockerels, which would mean the wait you are facing for eggs will be quite long - though it is unlikely that ALL of the birds would be mis-sexed.
What feed are you using?
Do the birds free range at all or are they confined to the coop/run 24/7?

I am 98% sure they are pullets, I am using store label feed from a store called Bomgarrs. Bomgarrs is a farm oriented feed/ ranch supply store. I have used this same feed before with wonderful results it has marigold flowers in the feed also. They are in the run 24/7 due to many falcons, hawks, raccoons, and foxes in my area.. don't want the dead chicken surprise!! like I have had before!! puts a bummer on the day! As for the pictures I can get some later this afternoon!!

 

[CrazyTalk]

I would think they'd be crowing and fighting at this point if they were cockerels - he said he got them in february - so they're 8 months old.

Any chance they're eating the eggs?

If you're absolutely sure they're not eating the eggs - I'd try switching to one of the bigger food brands - just to make sure that's not the problem - they're usually very consistent in their formulation.

 

[krista74]

I am 98% sure they are pullets.

As for the pictures I can get some later this afternoon!!

It's the 2% that worries me, lol

It would be great if you could post some pictures up. That way the more experienced folk on these boards can rule out any chance that they are cockerels. Not that I doubt your expertise - it's just that we have seen many poor souls, waiting for eggs from their 'girls,' only to be told that their wait is likely to be extreeeeeeeemely long! People do all kinds of underhanded things to get rid of their cockerels - including selling them under the guise of pullets. Hopefully that is not the case here.

I have some RIR's myself, and they started laying around the 24 week mark. The good news for you is that with some clear pictures, at 8 months old it should be really easy to tell if yours are indeed girls.

My very best wishes to you

Krista

 

[madchickenowner]

I would think they'd be crowing and fighting at this point if they were cockerels - he said he got them in february - so they're 8 months old.

Any chance they're eating the eggs?

If you're absolutely sure they're not eating the eggs - I'd try switching to one of the bigger food brands - just to make sure that's not the problem - they're usually very consistent in their formulation.

if they are eating the eggs they are doing an extremely good job of cleaning up after themselves... (wish my kids could be that tidy) lol!! I may try a different food.. just never had a problem with this food before. At this point I'm willing to do anything... chicken soup is looking at this point... lol

 

[butterfly lady]

I'm having a similar problem.....hens that were laying but stopped all of a sudden. One molted a bit but fed feather fixer....I'm guessing it worked .....still no eggs......

 

[madchickenowner]

Here are my ladies (or boys in drag) lol!! I also included a picture of my coop because there was a question of over crowding!!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I am 98% sure they are pullets, I am using store label feed from a store called Bomgarrs. Bomgarrs is a farm oriented feed/ ranch supply store. I have used this same feed before with wonderful results it has marigold flowers in the feed also. They are in the run 24/7 due to many falcons, hawks, raccoons, and foxes in my area.. don't want the dead chicken surprise!! like I have had before!! puts a bummer on the day! As for the pictures I can get some later this afternoon!!

Well, that eliminates the possibility of hidden nests......