Purebred chickens laying no eggs need help ASAP

[Alex Coffey]

I have 4 purebred chicken tractors Barred Rock, Dominique, Silver Laced Wyandotte, and Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. They are all old enough to lay, I got eggs from all of them everyday last year. But this year I can't get them to start laying. I am feeding them layer pellets. I have a total of 11 hens between the 4 breeds. On a very very good day I would get 3-4 eggs every two weeks would they lay that many. Right I get a egg every other day from all four breeds. I really want 9-11 eggs daily every day. I was thinking it might be a lighting issue, but I don't think so. I was also think it was a stress issue but my Barred Rocks have been locked up since February, and I still only get a egg every other day from them. I have four Barred Rock hens, 3 Dominique hens, 2 Silver Laced Wyandotte hens, and 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. I live in Knoxville, TN if that helps. Does anyone have and ideas or tips that might help these birds lay more eggs?

 

[Judy]

I would think locking them up for 4 months would stress them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers/0_20

 

[Alex Coffey]

Well I just moved all four tractors and cleaned their feeders and water fountains. I'm feed them laying pellets. Also cleaned out nest and put in a nest egg in each nest. I have one nest for each breed. Put some life and mite dust in the nests. I will dust every individual bird this evening when they go to roost. Also when I put new fresh water in I put 5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to help with stress. Hopefully this will help them get back on track of laying regularly. I will try to move the tractors every 4-5 days wouldn't you all think that a reasonable time period for them to be in one area? Hope you all have some more good ideas.

 

[Alex Coffey]

Lice and mite dust not life and mite dust

 

[my sunwolf]

All of that sounds good, but when we did tractors I moved mine every day. Depends on the square footage per bird. Sounds like you having trios or pairs for each breed, how big are your tractors? My production hens laid okay in a tractor (5sq ft per hen total), but my heritage birds tended to do better ranging or at least with more room (10sq ft per hen total).

Also, keep in mind that heritage birds will not lay an egg every day, it is more likely that they will lay every other day. To get 9+ eggs a day from 11 hens would be expected out of a production bird, not a heritage bird. I would expect that you get 5-6 eggs per day from 1yr old heritage hens.

flockwatcher is right, any time I keep my birds in the coop without any range time they go on strike, sometimes for months afterwards.

 

[Alex Coffey]

Ok two of them with the Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and the Silve Laced Wyandottes are 2x4 coop and a 4x6 run area. For the Barred Rocks and Dominique they have a 4x4 coop and 4x8 run area just guessing on the last two breeds. Those tractors were have to me, the first two I built myself so I know the dimensions of them. Ok I'll try to move once a day, what would say would be the longest I could leave them in one area? Thanks for the information.

 

[my sunwolf]

Hm, sounds like the tractors are big enough, so not sure.

You can leave them as long as you want in one spot, as long as you're not worried about the grass getting torn up! My hens tended to be too busy foraging to pick on each other if they always had fresh grass. Good luck, sorry I can't help out more.

 

[Alex Coffey]

Ok thanks for the information