stopped laying (why?)

[pittsbirder]

I have 3 amber sex link hens that are laying machines..they lay an egg everday since last august except for a few 2 egg days through winter. all the sudden one hen was sitting on the nest real late one night and i went out to lock the coop and she was still there sleeping later that night with no eggs under her.. an little odd shaped egg the next day and for a week now only 2 eggs. i cant gaurentee one bird quit laying only, they have not molted yet, and started laying together within 2 days..should i seperate the possible suspect to see if she is not laying? i felt all their bellies tonight, nothing seemed off..i dont give extra calcium, the shells always seemed strong. they are caged during day, free range an hour of so everyday after work. what could be the situation here, should i be concerned. thanks

 

[Habibs Hens]

sometimes as happened to me in the past

egg will stop if they feel there is a deficiency in calcium

rather than lay soft shelled eggs

give em calcium and within days eggs will be back


trust me

 

[Fred's Hens]

There are many possibilities. Many people recommend a process of treating them to eliminate some issues.

1. Dust them. Use a shaker can of poultry dust or garden dust. There are YouTube videos that give demonstrations.

2. Worm them. Once a worm load gets too high, laying can be effected. You might begin with simply buying three or four hard squash, such a Buttercup, Acorn or Hubbard types. Scoop the guts and seeds from the squash. You can whizzer this in a blender or one of the new whizzers. Blend into their feed in a 50-50 ratio and feed this for several days. Or, you can treat them with chemicals designed to worm them. Some products have warnings about not eating the eggs for up to a month, so read up on those issues.

3. Change their feed. Buy a bag of higher protein feed such as GameBird starter or GameBird Grower. This bump in protein as well as providing animal sourced protein often makes a big difference, especially if the feed you use now is vegetarian.

This basic protocol often shows remarkable results. Good water at all times, of course.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Many of these high flying layer strains, that lay early and lay heavy, also do develop ovarian and reproductive issues. They lay so young and lay so heavy that their systems just seem more prone to issues. Sometimes they recover after a bout of difficulty, but sometimes they never lay again. Sometimes, ascites and other infections even take their lives.

I'm sorry to say these things and surely, I don't intend to alarm or cause unnecessary concern. You may have heard the expression "early burnout" associated with many of the high laying strains. While not a specific term, it does seem to cover what does pop up at a young age with these various high laying birds.

 

[chickenelle]

My girls stopped laying before they showed signs of molt. Also when food changed.

 

[pittsbirder]

well today i only got one egg out of a typical 3..i know they wont lay one everyday forever but i was just concerned for health..so now is 1 better or worse than 2? thier diet has stayed the same, so are they going to molt, getting ill, or just burning out? i only got 3 hens so im concerned about my egg supply. i used a red heat lamp this winter only when it was real cold out to let them rest.

 

[sharonp53]

Please can anyone help me.

I have 4 x 18 month-old Plymouth Rocks (Dark Barred). I bought them from a Queensland breeder. I originally had 5 and at first they were laying 4-5 eggs a day. About 7 months ago they went down to about 3 a day and from there to two. One died about 6 months ago.

They are fed on a very good quality organic coarse layer mash, shell grit and have access to fresh greens daily, although there has been a shortage of these in my garden over the past 3 months due to remodelling. They are fed a couple of tablespoons of roo mince, slightly cooked, every morning, and they love that. They are also fed vegetable scraps and some damaged fruit and weeds and grass from the garden. They have a large run attached to their coop, so plenty of ability to scratch around.

They have been wormed twice, and have occasional seaweed tonic. One of them went through a molt and was being horribly bullied, in fact we nearly lost her. She recovered after being separated and hand fed but it was a hard road. I will know to watch in the future for the start of molt.

Recently we are down to two eggs over the course of 3-4 days.

My question, are we doing something wrong, or are our chickens not really bred for laying? This is so frustrating and is costing us a fortune!

I would consider killing them, but I paid $70 each for them, the most expensive roast in the world!

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Disheartened of Glass House