I live in a rural part of the Sierra Foothills. My hens started molting again about 3 weeks ago, and they are not laying.... I didn't think chickens molted in the fall.The temp here has been about 58-60in the daytime and now down to 34 at night, for about the last 2 weeks. Can anybody give me a clue about why they are not laying.... Their food and water routine has not changed. They are 2 years old...Is it time to put them in the POT!!!
They molt in the fall. Several of mine look positively pre-plucked right now. It takes a lot of energy to grow feathers so most hens stop laying during molt. It can take around 4-6 weeks for them to finish up, but you can help them out by increasing their protien. I've switched mine to a 22% gamebird feed and have free choice oyster shell out for the younger girls that aren't molting.
neighbor! (I'm in Colfax) Mine haven't molted yet, but my buttercup is being stubborn with the eggs. She hasn't laid in over 6 days.
I like your choice of chicken and if it was just me and my husband, I might have gotten exactly what you did. I mean just 4 chickens wouldn't cost much and the tempermant of the orpington would be welcomed, even though I wouldn't expect many eggs.....but enough. I know of an older couple......husband's aunt and uncle.....that did just that, but it was with 8 buff orpingtons. I really like the breed and respect them for what they are good for......setting and meat with occasional eggs. But really if its eggs I would want, I would chose something else.
I have a Buff Orpington hen that I got the first of August or so and supposedly she was about 1 1/2 years old. She hasn't layed the first egg since we've had her. At first I thought it might just be because she has to adjust, but we're way past that now. Then, she went through molting...growing in some new feathers on some of the bare spots she had, but now they appear to be all grown in. I'm not sure if she'll lay or not, but I'm attached to her so I'll still just keep her and let her freeload...lol
Hi to my Colfax neighbor...We actually go to Colfax often to have lunch at Giovanni's on 174. We live off of Dog Bar on the Bear Creek River. Good luck with your chicks.
