My chickens refuse to lay!!

[chickeneyfoot]

I have 15 chickens I chose just for laying( barred rocks, ee, rireds, black star, white rock, Brahma, giant)

They are all different ages 5-8 months except the RIR she is 2 and quit laying.

I've checked all the reasons for not laying and I don't think my birds fit any of those reasons

I feed the purina layer with flock raiser, I clean the coops almost daily(i stay at home) dust them for mites,(never had mites), I fed them electrolytes once or twice in 2 weeks. I worm them(never had worms) they are happy hens that get along well, they have lots of space and have an enclosed run. I live in Florida no snow just decreased hours of sun. Today I gave them pepper and hoped for eggs! But nothing. I told them I'm giving you a week! If no eggs someone's getting sold. They all have RED combs and waddles. I guess they just don't wanna lay for me! I give them meal worms too. They are just hens that are on vacation ALL the time!


Never saw an egg EVER

Probably won't ever.

 

[chickeneyfoot]

Anyone have any reason why they think they won't lay?thanks

 

[Wnunezcruz]

My chickens just started laying eggs and they are 8 months old. Maybe they are just not ready yet. They can take up to 10 months to start laying. If it's really cold it will also keep them from laying.

 

[chickeneyfoot]

Do you think I'm doing something wrong with takig care of them?

 

[berniezahm]

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, New Edition, says on page 192 that when daily sun light falls below 15 hours per day supplemental light should be provided in the coops to make the chickens believe they are getting 15 hours of sunlight per day. However even if you start light supplementation tomorrow it may well take 2 to 3 weeks before you will see an increase in their laying. I had my girls quit laying early this last December (2011). I finally realized that my light timers were off schedual because of a tripped circuit breaker. I got everything reset about mid December and I am now back to 12 to 15 eggs a day. The number is slowly going up but it takes time and won't increase the first week or so. I have my timers set to give them 16 hours of light per day. Light shut off time is in the evening at dusk (5:15 PM or so). Yes that means they come on at 2 AM. Use a 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb, they only draw 23 or so watts. Unless you put the CFL in a enclosed light fixture you will have to dust them fairly often, as dust cuts the light output of the CFL drasticaly. Inexpensive Pint mason jar size back door light fixtures can be purchased at Home Depot for about $5.00. They come in black or white, I suggest the white as it will reflect more light in the coop. Timers will probably be least expensive at a Wall Mart unless Home Depot is having a sale.
Hope this helps.
The Brown egg layers, RIR, White or Barred Rocks usually start laying at 20 to 22 weeks of age so your girls should be laying, as old as they are.

 

[Wnunezcruz]

No. Sounds like your taking great care Of them. I'm not familiar with that brand of feed. I go to a local feed mill an buy layer for my hens. They must have the best food you can find for them. Egg production has to do with the quality food. I tried tractor supply food and mine didn't lay as much as the feedmill food. I would post on here and ask what everyone thinks is the best food type for laying hens. Hope this helps. Just have patience

 

[allpeepedout]

If they are reaching maturity as the days shorten, their body rhythm may be a bit out of sync with Mother Nature. I bet if you stick it out with them you will have eggs in a couple of months, and they may be all the healthier for maturing later. Your 5 month olds are still young enough to deserve your kind patience, as I believe 6 months is an average start of lay, or so say the books on my shelf. Look forward to a bountiful spring and good luck!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You can wait 2 months or get a light with a timer, set it to come on at 4 AM and in a week or 2 you'll have eggs. In 3 weeks you'll get a dozen a day.
Good luck and let us know.

 

[Fred's Hens]

It's more than likely the fact that we just passed the darkest day of the year, in late December. You can "create" the dawn of spring by providing them supplemental pre-dawn light for a few hours. That is totally your choice. By February, the daylight will have naturally increased, day by day, until nature triggers the hormones in the birds and laying would likely resume all on its own.

The choice to "speed up" spring is a personal matter.

 

[Cowgirl75446]

I have chickens about the same age, my pullets are around 6 -8 months old. I use timers to supplement the light in my chicken barn, I set them for 4:00 am. - 8:00 am, so my birds get about 14 hours of light. All my pullets are laying great. I do have 2 pens out front, the pullets are the same age in those pens. I don't have any lights out there and I am not getting any eggs from those birds, so the light does make a difference.