NONE of them are laying!?!

[Leah S]

I have a flock of 11 girls. 4 newly added to general population about a week ago. One is loosing feathers and I thought it looked like mites, but have never seen one on her or in the coop. I dust everything and all the girls. I put down new bedding and put shavings in the nesting boxes instead of the normal straw, as I did not have straw. now can any of these things cause them not to lay? the dusting (dusted yesterday), the new material in the nesting boxes, maybe the new girls? does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Den in Penn]

Yup. Changes can do that. New flock mates, new bedding material all can be stressful. Add to it the one losing feathers may be molting. A couple of the others may also be starting to molt. Give them a little more to settle down and you should start to see eggs again.

 

[Leah S]

thanks. i worry when they aren't doing their normal chicken things. everyone looks happy and spunky today as I let them out. is there anything i can do to ease their transition? they get scratch every day. mabye I will give them some more free range time to help and get some extra foraging in.

 

[Den in Penn]

Best thing is to keep to a routine. Making changes means they have to adjust to the change. giving them more time out would lower the boredom level. But until they start laying in the nest boxes, leaving them out more might mean they start to get comfortable outside and start laying in the bushes before they get into the habit of laying in the nests.

 

[earlybird10842]

molting time and stress combined, most likely.