No eggs in months please help

[ChrisnJaxsen]

I purchased 18 hens and 1 rooster about 4-5 months ago. When i arrived there to purchase these hens i actually seen these hens lay eggs. He had about 10 eggs at that moment. i moved them and of course i know stress plus the cold weather but i have only seen maybe 2 eggs in past 4-5 months. They have always free ranged on my land. Here recently i built a large 20x30 coop and supplied it with extra roosting rafters and nesting boxes,12 to be exact and even placed a marble egg inside a box. I have been feeding laying ration, however its getting pricey with no results. i keep a light hanging in coop on at all times and for the past week i have kept them cooped up just in case they were laying somewhere else, still.....no eggs ? what can i do? i have rhode island reds, black sex links, cornish rocks, and other mixed breeds. I am getting clueless???????

 

[chickentooth]

Hens lay eggs when they are well fed and are comfortable and sometimes even when they are not so comfortable.

My questions would be how old are they? What is the weather like in your area? I assume your 20 x 30 was in feet not inches?

All hens take a break from laying once in awhile but not usually all at once and not for more than a month or so, unless they are in a state of recovery from neglect or injury they should be laying almost every day.

I live in Michigan and I have been having more eggs this winter than ever before.

My guess is that they may have been laying someplace else on your property and that now that they are locked up you will see more eggs.

 

[ECBW]

Do you know the age of the birds? Are they molting? even so, 4 months is too long.

Try locking them in the coop for the day, to be sure they are not laying in the field.

 

[ChrisnJaxsen]

Yes it is in feet, I feed them twice a day. Once in am and evening. Do you think I should keep a feeder full for them at all times ? I have had them locked up for a week now. No eggs. And I'm not sure the age of them. Some young some old. Not real sure. It went from a lot. To no eggs.

 

[cmoore333]

I adopted 4 hens that where only feed twice a day (not saying that's bad) but I leave food out for them all day. After over two weeks I have started getting eggs from my new ladies. Each hen is different and respond to moves different and cold weather different.. I have two hens that laid eggs all winter long, I also have two other hens who took pretty much the whole winter off... I let mine free range all day, so they eat what they want when they want.. I think they are all happy

 

[PSJ]

I would leave feed out for them all day. You may also try putting some apple cider vinegar in their water..it helps with the stress.

 

[Number7hen]

We received 7, 3 year old Buff Orpingtons last spring. Not long after they arrived, they laid 6 eggs all on the same day. After that though, they didn't lay an egg in months. We asked around, thinking we were doing something wrong, but everyone said they just needed to adjust to the new surroundings. By the end of the summer they started to lay again. Now I know these are older hens, and maybe the move was more traumatic for them. We did down size our flock to only 3 hens, and we are getting 1 to 2 eggs a day, they are now 4 years old, and laying just fine. It's hard to believe that it would take several months for them to settle in, but that seemed to be the case with ours. Hope your hens start laying soon.

 

[ceeceeholt]

I wouldn't keep a light in the coop all day and night, they don't need a light during the day or night unless your coop is really dark. My girls molted late and I still have 4 that are not quiet done, if they're over 18 months that could be it too. I agree with others, feed access all day and try a little ACV in the water, can't hurt. Good luck!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Your hens aren't laying because chickens are very photosensitive. The amount and wavelengths of light affect them greatly. In the winter, there's not enough light to stimulate them to lay.

Put a standard 75 watt light bulb in the coop. If you have the chance of a "warm light" bulb, go for that over a "cool light" bulb. Put it on a timer to go on around 4:00am and off sometime after dawn. You're shooting for 14-16 hours of light total, including sunlight. In about two weeks, you should see some eggs.

Please do not put a light on 24-7. It's hard on any animal, including hens, to have no dark period for sleep, and there's been research done that it actually suppresses egglaying, so it's counter-productive.