Orpington stopped laying - suggestions?

[Happy Chooks]

The heat you mentioned made me wonder - have they run out of water at any time? That can stop laying as well.

 

[aart]

Ditto didn't catch the being on the other side f the world and it being that hot already.

Heat could definitely be the holdup.

 

[krista74]

They definitely didn't run out of water. I have not one but 3 waterers available to them in their coop and run, all of which get changed out twice a day with fresh water. They have 4 other alternate spots to find water when they are out free-ranging. Hubby likes to joke that I will have more muscles in my arms then he does, considering the amount of buckets of water I haul around our yard every day! I feel for the girls though, and I wouldn't want to drink warm water on a stinking hot day, so I make sure they have lots of it about. I also put ice in their waterers to keep it cool when it gets really hot.

I guess the weather could be affecting her laying though. As with all Orpingtons, she is as fluffy as all get-out! The other girls are all RIR's and seem to cope better. She pants a lot, and I have taken to spritzing her with iced water when it's really bad outside. You can imagine how impressed she is with that! She actually growls at me, lol. We have loads of trees for them to hide under during the day, and I run sprinklers throughout the day too. I really do everything I can for them, but I sure as heck couldn't lay an egg on a 100 degree day, so I guess I can't expect her to either!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the matter. I will update this post when (if) she lays again for me!

- Krista

 

[aart]

I set my panter in a shallow ice water pan, she fought it until she felt the cool.......then I swear, she sighed with relief. Hot is hard to deal with....no way I could live where it got up to 100F...YeeeUCK

 

[krista74]

Lol, it gets worse than that! It's not uncommon in the middle of Summer for us to get a run of five or six days at around 114F (46c). Now THAT is hot! I can only try to do the best I can for them I guess.

I might try the water bath idea (if I can catch her!) next time we get a hot day. We're lucky in that at the moment we are in Spring, so whilst we do get hot days, a cool break usually comes after a couple of them. That brings some welcome relief to everyone.

- Krista

 

[aart]

Lol, it gets worse than that! It's not uncommon in the middle of Summer for us to get a run of five or six days at around 114F (46c). Now THAT is hot! I can only try to do the best I can for them I guess.

I might try the water bath idea (if I can catch her!) next time we get a hot day. We're lucky in that at the moment we are in Spring, so whilst we do get hot days, a cool break usually comes after a couple of them. That brings some welcome relief to everyone.

- Krista

Is that heat humid or dry? That really can make a difference...misting systems can really help in high dry heat.

 

[krista74]

It's a dry heat.

Unfortunately there is no power down to the coop and run, as we are rural and the coop is 'out the back' - a few hundred metres away. There is no running water down at the coop either, which is why I am hauling buckets all day from up at the house, lol.

- Krista