roosters are gone. hens stopped laying.

[brnstd]

We recently had to get rid of our roosters as we were getting ready to add 8 new chicks. Didnt want the roosters jumping the young ones. After the roosters were gone the hens stopped laying. When one of the young roosters went to an older hen she chased him away! ( pretty funny though.) Will the older hens start laying again when the new roosters get big enough?

 

[welasharon]

Having or not having roosters doesn't effect the egg laying of hens. Many right now are not laying because of either molting or less daylight hours.

 

[brnstd]

Do you think it could be a coincidence? We haven't gotten any eggs at all for weeks.

 

[welasharon]

Yes most likely. I have over 30 hens and today I got 3 eggs. They will hopefully pick up a little more soon.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Having/not having a rooster does not stimulate egg production - however, sudden changes in the flock can be a "stressor" and interruption in production is often a reaction to such things. Couple that with the above mentioned drop in production often seen this time of year and it really isn't too surprising that you have seen this change. How old are your "older hens? Do you have supplemental lighting in your coop?

 

[brnstd]

The older ones are 3 years old. Last year we used extra lighting but electricity has jumped quite a bit so thats out now. Unfortunately the heat lamp will only be on for the coldest nights now too.
Thanks for the help. We'll just wait it out. Don't think the new ones will lay 'till spring because of electric prices.

 

[lakesidemaiden]

well, you may still get eggs once they de-stress and if you let them out to run a bit during the daylight hours. Do you have a run or free range them? Or are they mostly cooped up during the day? That could also have a big impact on egg production. And adding new members to the flock is a huge stressor, especially if they weren't properly quarantined before they were introduced - it could trigger an number of dormant health issues like worms or mites.

 

[brnstd]

They do go out everyday and free range a few times since they stopped laying. The babies are their own from the roosters we had. When the new ones were feathered out we split the coop and a separate run for each group. They are all together now and seem ok. Maybe when the new ones start laying the older ones will get back in the mood. I think we did everything right.