really stumped on my hens (long)

[Kristina]

OK so this is gonna be long but I beg that you bear with me!

OK here is the situation NOTHING that lives here is laying except for ONE duck!

I am stumped as to what is going on. ANY help is appreciated. I know all the questions usually asked so I'll try to answer them now. LOL

Feed:

fresh water daily
layer pellets
oyster shell
scratch for snacks since weather is cooler
semi-free range

health history: (since owning them)

poultry lice once on 8 birds treated all birds
2 birds had eye worms treated
3 pullets in quarintine (think they have pox) going through treatment


A list of our birds:
(if any are notorious for laying later please let me know, I'll just list hens)

golden campine
4 silkie hens
two buff orp
two buff cochin
4 red sex link
mille fleur duccle

khaki campell
rouen(only one laying ever)


OK...now I know for a fact even though I didn't keep good dates that the mille and the campine where three weeks old when I got them about a week before easter. I THINK that I got the buff orps in the begining of june at 4 days old.

I expect the newer layers to not lay until spring with the weather change and the shorter days but come on! Nothing?

This is the kicker for me though. I have a friend who lives about 2 hours from me who I PERSONALLY picked out her chickens for her from a breeder that lives near me and brought them too her....I also got some at the same time. Well all the ones I brought her are laying up a storm! MINE...NOTHING!!!

That is the frustrating part.

Hubby is threatening them to the stew pot if we can't figure out the problem.

And thanks if you made it this far

 

[Juliechickens]

It sounds to me like your hens might not be quite old enough yet. If you got the buffs in June,,,,they are not. I have a bunch that arn't laying yet either..and mine hatched last Easter! I only (had) one silkie who was laying eggs for me daily and a hawk got her 3 days ago

I will wait for the others to start laying but I think I would tell hubby to be patient. They will lay when they are ready. The cochins by the way,,are not great egg layers typically but the buffs are and so are the silkies. I'm not sure how good of layers the D'Uccles are. I wanted some of those badly last year but none of my so called fertilized eggs ever hatched

ARGGG!
Anyways,,don't give up! Your hens will lay soon but it may be another month or two. Julie

P.S. I give my birds fruit cocktail out of the can drained,,,,and they just love it. Maybe a little treat would make them happy

 

[Kristina]

Awww. Julie sorry to hear about your little silkie

I guess I'll just have to hold out and have some more patience.

 

[Windy Ridge]

Hm... that's really confusing. I would think the sex-link birds would have started laying; they're sort of a production breed. My little Silkie started at 22 weeks and lays six days out of each week so far. Orps are supposed to be good layers when they start (at 24 weeks or so), but I don't know about the others you list.

Do you have windows in your coop? A friend of mine had an old coop and built a nice new one, but the windows in the new one were facing north, rather than south and east, and his hens really reduced their laying. Not sure if that was the problem for him or not, but I thought it might have been the reduced light. (It could also have been the stress at first, but then hens never really recovered.)

It could just be that the few issues you have had with lice, pox, etc., slowed down their development a little. That's not a bad thing either. Sometimes when birds come to early into lay it can reduce their long-term productivity. It may be your birds will be more productive over their lifespan than your friend's birds... you never know.

The only other thing I can think of is that--semi-free-range--is there a place they could be hiding the eggs? I'm sure you've probably checked that, but it doesn't hurt to mention. Chickens can be tricksy.

Good luck!

 

[Kristina]

Well the pox were only on the three quarainted birds and this was lately. The lice on the 8 was recently too. We had trouble all at once

Semi free range....they have our whole back yard as their chicken yard and it's completely fenced up to 8 ft high so I know they can't go anywhere's else to hide them. They don't have a real coop They have shelter we built for them but not like a house with a door. Think that could be a problem? Not really much in the way off overhead predators around here and winters aren't very harsh at all.

I'm so confused

I read somewhere about someone took their birds off of layer and put them back on grower for a while then went back to the layer and the chickens started laying? Does anyone think this is worth trying?

 

[Poison Ivy]

I bought 9 chicks in May and only 4 have started to lay. I'm hoping the other ones start soon. Your girls still might be a few weeks out before they start laying.

 

[Windy Ridge]

Quote:
It was my understanding that they shouldn't be on layer feed until they're actually laying (or just about to) because the extra calcium can sometimes be problematic. A grower feed usually has more protein in it than layer feed, which can bring them into lay sooner because they grow and mature faster. The problem, of course, is that if you have different varieties, they won't all start laying at the same time, anyway, so you can't really give them all the ideal type of food they need. Sometimes you have all the same variety of hen, and they still don't start laying at the same time.

And they'll also trick you and make you think they're going to lay ANY MINUTE NOW. I have a Faverolles hen that came out of the coop a week and a half ago looking as if her comb had suddenly been daubed with red paint. However, she hasn't begun laying (or else she's hiding them somewhere... but since she's a homebody and I keep a close watch on her, I think she just hasn't laid, yet).

I haven't switched that coop to layer, yet, although I do provide oyster shell free choice and I've seen her pick at it a little, mostly disinterestedly.

If you've tried everything else, and you're sure they're not hiding eggs under the shrubbery or in a corner somewhere, switching to grower for a while with free choice oyster shell shouldn't hurt them IMO, and may even be a big help. That's a good idea.

 

[Kristina]

Well I have to go to the feed store in a little while so I think I'll pick up some grower and see what happens. I just know that they're holding out on me the little buggers!

 

[ozark hen]

Have your dh go to the chickens with you and say out loud....IF THEY DON'T START LAYING THEN THEY GO INTO THE FREEZER OR POT! I found that to work for me.

Not all of mine are laying just yet either but several are now laying. I got mine the first week in April. I was about to give up myself...be patient. I started mine on some layer feed mixed with their starter feed about 3-4 weeks prior to laying. It will be fine, you will see.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

when you let them out to free range what time are you doing so? remember most hens lay in the morning. they could be laying while their out if you're letting them out early. just a thought.