They FINALLY started laying, and then quit again

[Ariel301]

I got some chicks last February, and they didn't start laying until January this year. (assorted breeds, mostly bantams) They were laying ok, not great...I was getting 6-9 eggs a day from 20 hens. Now they have stopped again, at first all the bantams stopped and one Orphington was still laying an egg every three days, not in the coop but in a goat feed pan. Then she quit too. I have not had eggs in three weeks! I thought maybe they were hiding them, so I have been keeping them locked in their pen instead of free ranging.

I've about had it. We're spending $40 a month feeding chickens that are not laying. We need the food source as we produce most of our own food, and will soon be forced to do so as we are having to live on $200 a month and are about to lose our food stamps as well. I could send all these to freezer camp and get new ones, but it would be at least 6 months then before they were ready to lay, and it took the last batch almost a year to get going, and some never even started laying, so I worry that new ones would just do the same. I'm feeding a custom made soy-free feed that is 17% protein, it has whole grains, alfalfa meal, and brewer's grains in it. Layer feed is usually not available here, and when it is, it is $20 a bag for crumbles that mostly get wasted because they're too little and the birds throw them everywhere. The birds seem healthy, they're a good weight, shiny, and active. My neighbor feeding a similar feed is getting 8 dozen eggs a day from 100 hens. What is going on?! When I was a kid, I had chickens that ate nothing but scratch and gave me so many eggs I had to give a lot of them away. They were never this much trouble.

 

[Cass]

Check Craig's list for free layers. Right now everyone is giving away their extras to make space for little ones in my area.

Maybe walk around the coop with an ax in your hand proclaiming "anyone not laying an egg by the end of the week is SOUP"

 

[Fred's Hens]

While all kinds of pet chickens are popular here, for homesteaders or self sufficient minded folks who really, really need their hens to lay consistently and economically, there are better main stream breeds, but in the end, nothing will lay like the commercial hens. The hens only weigh 4 1/2 pounds instead of 7 lbs, and lay an egg a day, every day. The down side is that this proficient feed conversion and egg production will only last two years and then these hens production will fall to more typical levels of 4 eggs per week.

These light bodied layers eat less and produce more. They are sex linked to enable easy purchase of pullets only. They are extremely healthy and friendly to a fault. They don't go broody and won't breed true, so this is the trade off. I like to keep some Barred Rocks and would enjoy some Partridge and Buff Rocks too. But these breeds would be for my enjoyment and I simply could not afford to feed a flock made up only of traditional birds.

 

[mkhenderson17]

Bantams dont lay well or constantly at all. There are many other reasons they dont lay well, check out this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=423023.


I recommend if u want a good laying breed to look into RED STARS. I have 15 and get 12-15 eggs a day. Golden commets r good too I hear. Good Luck!

 

[Ariel301]

I've got some Gold Comets, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, and Buff Orphingtons. All known for being good layers (not Leghorn good, but acceptable). None of them have been laying any better than the bantams. The bantam Cochins were laying daily once they got going...then they stopped. My American games, also daily layers once they started...stopped. I got the bantams hoping some would end up being broodies, so I could get eggs hatched that way. I had one Easter Egger sitting on eggs, but she decided to do so in a bad spot outside the chicken pen, and her eggs got eaten by something. But she didn't try again to brood OR start laying again. I'm going to get some white Leghorn eggs to put in the incubator next time I make a trip into Las Vegas, and get some more Plymouth Rock eggs from a friend, I figure I need to have about 50 hens so I can sell enough eggs to pay for the feed and still have enough eggs for eating and hatching out for meat. But something is going on if they're not laying right, we're not talking a few bantams not laying well, we're talking 8-ish breeds of hen bantam and standard and some mutt hens also, completely stopped out of nowhere, and before that, it took a year for them to start laying, and a few of them have never started at all, and they're 15 months old.

I baited the nest boxes with store bought eggs to see if any disappear, I haven't seen any signs of any being eaten, and I would think if I had a predator I would still get some eggs, because they always lay around the same time of day and I go right out at that time and get the eggs, but I'm getting nothing.

They are getting enough feed and good feed. The days are warm and long enough. They're not sick or stressed. Not wormy. Not molting. Not broody. Not too old or too young.

Seriously makes me wonder about those conspiracy theories about planes spraying stuff in the air, we do have a lot of planes leaving those trails above our house...I don't know....Something isn't right with these hens.

No free layers on Craigslist. Not even free roosters. The last ads I saw for chickens on there (I check daily), they wanted $20 apiece for hens, and $60 for some game roosters that looked a little suspicious, if you know what I mean. The feed store has chicks...at $5 each for straight run assorted chicks.

 

[mkhenderson17]

What type of environment are they in? how much square foot per bird and such

 

[mkhenderson17]

btw what r u feeding?

 

[Ariel301]

They have a coop/pen (it's not a traditional coop, it has a roof but chain link sides to keep things cool since we live in a very warm place where it rarely rains or snows) that is 15 feet by 12 feet for about 25 birds. There is a completely enclosed section in the pen also, for them to get in when it does rain or get too cold, and their nests are in there. I also provide artificial lighting in the pen at night, mainly to deter predators/curious neighbor kids who have been setting my goats loose at night, I've got a 60 watt light bulb running out there all night. (The enclosed area is dark for them to sleep in) They also usually get most of the afternoon to free range on 7 acres.

I feed a mix of brewer's grains, whole corn, whole peas, whole oats, whole wheat, whole barley, alfalfa meal, and Redmond's Mineral Conditioner, free choice in their feeders. It is 17% protein. Don't tell me I HAVE to feed them commercial layer feed, I never have, and never have had problems with any birds except this bunch...also, I can't get layer feed here except in spring, and it costs too much, 50 cents a pound compared to the feed I use which is 14 cents a pound and has more protein than the 14% layer they carry here seasonally. They only sell layer feed while they are selling chicks, then no more for the rest of the year. They also get a one gallon bucket of scraps from the house almost every day, fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, pasta, cereal, etc. My neighbor feeds her hens about the same ration, minus the free ranging, and hers are laying well.

I baited my nest boxes overnight with some store bought eggs to see if I have a predator. One egg disappeared, but the others are still there, so I don't have something eating all the eggs every single day. I've had the chickens locked in their pen a few days to make sure they have not just started hiding their eggs in the yard, even though they were previously laying in the coop, but no eggs still.

I have about ten 15 month old hens who have NEVER laid.

I'm going to buy some more Plymouth Rock eggs from a friend tonight if she's got extras and set the incubator up. These chickens may all go to the freezer.

 

[CCourson05]

I was getting 7 eggs out of 9 hens. Then, WHAM! They all stop. I get 1 or 2 per day. I recently integrated a flock though...maybe they are still stressed about that...It has been about 2 weeks though.

 

[Ariel301]

Yeah, bringing in new birds can stress them out. I haven't brought in any new ones though.