non laying chickens!!!!!!

[jamietidwell]

Ok so my chickens (cochin bantams) are all almost 1 year old. None of them have layed a single egg....can you believe that?! I figured they would wait till spring but nope, not one egg yet. They're mating with the roosters and everything. They've been mating for several months now. I don't know what to do.

 

[lovemyflock]

That's odd. Do they freerange, so they could be laying somewhere you don't know about??

 

[lovemyflock]

and are they eating layer food?

 

[jacyjones]

I think they must be laying somewhere you have not found yet - get looking and maybe use a dog with a good nose - our spaniel always finds nests for us!!

 

[2boxers]

I thought mine had issues, too. Then one day I accidentally discovered a nest under one of our sheds. I thought they had not been laying for weeks when in fact, they just hadn't been laying in the nest boxes for weeks.

Time for a pre Easter egg hunt.

 

[mistylady]

Can you keep them confined for a few days to see if they are just laying outside where you can't find them?

 

[jamietidwell]

Quote:
They are not free range. we built a big run onto the coop

 

[jamietidwell]

Quote:
yes they've been on laying pellets for awhile now and they'll be 1yr old in may

 

[ChooksChick]

Can you bump up the calcium by milling the egg shells from your home use (you must be buying if they're not laying...) in a coffee grinder and feeding them back in their food?

Can you bump up their protein by feeding them tuna or something along those lines? I heard pond fish food was a great way to blitz egg production. I haven't tried that, but I did feed a pound of freezer-burnt salmon to mine over a week or so and saw a bump in production.

 

[kuntrygirl]

My cochin bantam hens like to play the egg hunt game. Although they have a coop and nesting boxes, they lay eggs wherever they want to and I have to find them. One day I found a dozen of there eggs in a new laying spot. I wasn't sure how long the eggs were there, so I had to throw them away. At that age, yours should be laying. You may want to walk around on a daily basis in case they are laying somewhere else. Let us know if you find any.