New layer stopped laying?

[aecovert12]

Hello,

This is our first flock so needless to say, we do not know much. We received our first eggs on 8/31, second 9/1, and third, on 9/2. Since then there has not been any eggs. I put a plastic egg in the nesting boxes thinking the hen may not liked us removing the eggs. I have done the Easter egg hunt around the property in case they decided to lay somewhere else, and have found nothing. Is this normal for new layers to miss this many days? We have 16 hens (RIR, BR, BO's) and 4 roosters (soon to be one) that are 23 weeks and most of them have bright red combs and are laying down for the rooster when he stops by.

Thank you for any and all help!

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Not to my knowledge i have two longhorn hens laying as of now and they take one day off a week outside of that they are laying and they just started this is their second week.

 

[aart]

Hello,

This is our first flock so needless to say, we do not know much. We received our first eggs on 8/31, second 9/1, and third, on 9/2. Since then there has not been any eggs. I put a plastic egg in the nesting boxes thinking the hen may not liked us removing the eggs. I have done the Easter egg hunt around the property in case they decided to lay somewhere else, and have found nothing. Is this normal for new layers to miss this many days? We have 16 hens (RIR, BR, BO's) and 4 roosters (soon to be one) that are 23 weeks and most of them have bright red combs and are laying down for the rooster when he stops by.

Thank you for any and all help!

Welcome to BYC!

I would get the extra cockerels out of there asap, they can definitely cause enough stress to cease laying, just cage them up separately until they can go wherever they are going to go.

It's not unusual for them to skip a few days when starting out, and it can take up to a month of so for things to smooth out, but I would highly suspect they have found a place to hide a nest....depending on how many eggs you got those days. If only one or two birds were laying, then maybe it's just a pause..if 3-4-5 birds were laying then I'd bet on a hidden nest. Depending on what your range area is like, finding that nest might be impossible or at least highly improbable.

Hopefully your coop and run is large enough for all the pullets to be confined for a week or two.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers.
Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.
They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon.
You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.

I assume that you have at least 4 nests and I'd put fake eggs/golf balls in 2-3 of them.
The plastic eggs can work but if they are the hollow ones, fill them with sand or dirt to weigh them down.

 

[barneveldrerman]

Hello,

This is our first flock so needless to say, we do not know much.  We received our first eggs on 8/31, second 9/1, and third, on 9/2.  Since then there has not been any eggs.  I put a plastic egg in the nesting boxes thinking the hen may not liked us removing the eggs.  I have done the Easter egg hunt around the property in case they decided to lay somewhere else, and have found nothing.  Is this normal for new layers to miss this many days?  We have 16 hens (RIR, BR, BO's) and 4 roosters (soon to be one) that are 23 weeks and most of them have bright red combs and are laying down for the rooster when he stops by.

Thank you for any and all help!

Welcome to byc. Young chickens are still developing and so what you are experiencing is normal. As she gets older she will be more capable of laying eggs. She could also be stressed with all this new stuff. Other chickens might also be stressing her. Like I said she is young and still needs to mature a little.


Hope this helps!

 

[rlmiddlebrooks]

Not trying to hijack your thread but I'm having a similar problem. I have 5 golden comets of which 2 started laying a month ago. Everything was fine until two of the others started laying on Friday. Since then my first two completely stopped. I know it's normal for them to take a break but what's the chance they take a 3 day break at exactly the same time two others start laying? It's been 3 days and counting. They are acting normal and friendly and eating and drinking like always just stopped laying.

 

[aecovert12]

Thank you for the reply! I will start with culling the roosters and then I will confine the hens to the coop and run for a few days.