My hens refuse to lay!

Carrie31

In the Brooder
5 Years
Jul 9, 2014
13
0
22
We have sort of a "hen rescue" going on at our house! We have 2 leghorns that a guy gave us (city ordinance- he had to re-home them!) We also have 2 red comets that we rescued from a local chicken farm- they had been badly abused by the the other chickens- one appears to be blind, and the other has a bone that permanently sticks up from her wing- she had very few feathers, and almost no comb, but she is a doll, so friendly and sweet! We were told, by bother previous owners, that these 4 hens laid an egg a day, sometimes two. Thy did, at first, and we were ecstatic! (we have a silver laced Wyandotte who is a miserable hag, and has laid maybe 4 eggs since we've had her.) But after keeping them in the coop for around four days, we let them out to free range- and egg production has stopped. Miss Reggie, our poor beat-up girl, is the only one laying, and even she has become sporadic. What is going on here? I don't believe they're egg bound- they'd be dead. What the heck is going on here? Any ideas?
 
I would check around where the chickens hang out a lot because they will lay eggs in a favorite and comfortable bush or a pile of grass or weeds that they like
 
We have looked, and found nothing.. We're just really new to this, and we're confused. We're trying really hard to do everything right- in fact, I just had my husband at the emergency room last night because he contracted salmonella from keeping the coop clean. (UGH.)
I just read on a different thread that if something changes within the coop dynamics changes, it can cause them not to lay. We lost one of our babies a few days ago- poor little thing never was quite right, and I'm wondering if they're sad and missing her?
We also have that Wyandotte I mentioned- she truly is a b**ch. She has pecked the others, and when we first got the Leghorns, she would chase them out of the coop. She doesn't chase them anymore, but she is overall, a miserable bird, and I'm wondering if she's just bringing everyone down.
 
Any stress will bother your hens, and it sounds like there's plenty of issues there! Older birds; sick birds; new flock members; molting? If you are lucky, things will work themselves out as the group melds together. SALMONELLA??? Don't eat any raw eggs! I wish you all the best, Mary
 
Thank you, everyone! He was definitely not eating raw eggs, lol! When our little chick died, we were concerned that whatever the cause was, it might affect our whole flock, so while I went to Tractor Supply to look for medicines/vitamins for our remaining birds, my husband shoveled out the coop, and sprayed it all down with bleach water- 12 hours later, he was extremely ill. He's recovering slowly, very slowly. He now knows he HAS to take precautions-mask, gloves, the ER doc even said goggles!
The more I think of possible stress factors, the more I realize there could be a lot of reasons for them not laying. My father in law's roosters(he lives next door) just found our girls. They're missing little Coco. (Our chick that died) Gertie (my Wyandotte) is terrorizing them.
I'm just worried, overall. These birds are our pets. We treat like them like babies, like members of the family. We've spent $100's, from the coop, to the feed, the medication, bedding, even my husband's recent ER visit co-pay, lol! We're trying so hard to do it all right, and we feel like we're failing! :(
 

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