Only 1 out of my 4 Pullets is laying

[JewelsVictoria]

I have 4 pullets, 2 Barnevelders and 2 White sussex, they are 9months old.

When they were 20 weeks old, only the White sussex were laying but that all stopped after one of them became broody. It took a few days to break her broodiness but after that she stopped laying and so did the other one. Now only 1 Barnevelder is laying, the other Barnevelder hasn't layed yet.

I feed them layer pellets which are available all the time in a automatic feeder. They have shell grit in a bowl next to the feeder. I also give them cracked corn, sultanas, currants, wild bird seed, sunflower seed in a bowl each morning. I give them some cheese, yogurt, porridge and seeded bread as a treat, ok I give them cheese most days, before they go to bed lol. They also have access to greens.

I live in Victoria Australia, it is coming up to Winter here. They have already had their first molt. Is there something I am doing wrong? These are my first chickens. Thank you
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[Kiki]

Hi there!
May I suggest you stop feeding them all of the treats.
Feed ONLY the complete layer feed and you should start seeing eggs.
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production

 

[JewelsVictoria]

Hi there!
May I suggest you stop feeding them all of the treats.
Feed ONLY the complete layer feed and you should start seeing eggs.
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production

Thank you for your advice, I will stop giving them so many treats. I will let you know how they go Thanks for the link, appreciate it.

 

[aart]

Ditto on cutting out all the treats, unless your layer feed is a higher protein than the usual 15-16%

They have already had their first molt.

At 20 weeks they have not had their first adult molt,
that won't happen until they are over a year old.
They will 'molt' 2-3 times from chickhood to about 3-4 months.
But some pullets will do a partial molt when the daylight is decreasing no matter their age...I suspect that is what you saw/are seeing...they will not lay when molting.
They may lay yet this winter, or they may wait until after solstice.

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC!
Thanks for noting your location, huge help!.
It's easy to add to your profile, then it's always there!

 

[JewelsVictoria]

Thank you for that. Would it be ok to give them a few sultanas etc.. before their bedtime? or a nice warm porridge as it's getting cold here now. I want to do the right thing but I can't help but spoil them a little Two of them were laying everyday while I was giving them treats, it's just that after one became broody, they stopped laying. Then later on, the only one that was laying was my Barnevelder. I caught her on the next acting all broody but she has stopped that now and has stopped laying too.

 

[Kiki]

I think if you are going into winter time your birds might be starting to molt and molting birds don't usually lay.
Molting with too many treats = no eggs for sure.

I would recommend that you feed then ONLY a complete feed and zero treats.
switching from a layer type feed (if that is what you have been using) to a grower type feed during a molt might be a good thing since grower feeds usually have a higher protein amount.

What brand name of feed to you buy/use?
What brand names are available where you live?

 

[Kiki]

AGH!
I just noticed their age...Molt is NOT likely with this age, it has to be the feed and or worms or bugs.

Ca you collect some fresh poop for a vet to run a fecal on?

 

[JewelsVictoria]

I feed them Barastoc, Golden Yolk, point of lay pellets

 

[aart]

I feed them Barastoc, Golden Yolk, point of lay pellets

That's pretty low protein.
http://barastocpoultry.com.au/our-products/essentials-range/golden-yolk/

Look for something with 18-20% protein and 1.x% calcium to use during molt.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for telling me the brand name.
I am adding it to this Googlesheet.
You may want to check it out...I do have other feeds from the UK listed on the sheet that you could compare your feed too.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1upDVFXEQPK8PUIF6Sj3Bt5CUQfX1PlTEhg799sDT-qM/edit?usp=sharing

I am pretty sure your current feed would be fine but only if you stopped feeding everything else and only feed that feed.

Just as it took a while for you to see the effects of feeding too many treats it will take some time for them to get back to laying regularly.