Not laying - no longer queen of the coop

[bkatty17]

Our adopted Wheaten Game Hen, Bernise, went through a very hard molt and lost nearly every tail feather and much of the coverage on her pretty little neck. Since then she has not layed any eggs. Her tail feather are growing out nicely as is her neck but no eggs. Also, the Barred Rock and the Americauna chicks we introduced are now bigger than she is and will not let her eat any treats - they steal the grasshoppers right out of her mouth. Anytime they see her move for food they intercept. She seems unhappy - will the girls ever let her eat in peace? Will she ever lay again? We've had the girls since late June - when can we expect them to begin laying? We feed them scratch and Layena with treats now and again.

Thanks for any help.

 

[UrbanChick101]

Do you have a little cage or some type of fencing that you could keep her seperate for feed time?? That would be the best way, to give her treats. In the short time I have had my little flock of 6 I have noticed that the black australorps and the SLWyandottes don't give the Buff Orpingtons the chance to get treats, there is certainly a strong pecking order. I have started splitting the treats and giving them on two different plates across from each other, and that seems to help quite a bit.

I have only had my girls for 3 weeks, I have one that started laying on Sunday, I have gotten 3 eggs, 1 every other day. The one that is laying was born March 7, the others were born on Feb. 14. The people I got them from said, they had all started to lay already she thought. She had over 40+ birds so she wasn't certain. The eggs I have been getting are tiny, so I am suspecting this one (black australorp) is just starting to lay. I am hoping the shock of the move wears off the others soon, so they too will lay. My kids and I can't wait to get more eggs. I hope things start to perk up for you soon.

 

[pgpoultry]

BKatty... Provided that you did not adopt a very old bird she will eventually come back in to lay. Moulting takes a lot out of the bird and they need to conserve the protein for new feather formation.

Make sure she remains well fed and and the eggs will eventually re-appear.

It is usually best to isolate the bully, not the bullied, but it may be a good idea to take out Bernise to selectively feed her. Make sure that the others can see her (preferably have just some chicken wire between them).

Urbanchick....yours will lay normally, too, eventually. Shock can take a long time to recover from. i had a fox attack 6 weeks ago and one of my hens is still not laying.


Good luck,

Sandie