Toppy won't lay

[wells06]

We are having problem getting our toppy to lay eggs. And when she does they are not fertile even though she is with our Toppy Rooster. We are feeding all the birds 16% feed but still nothing. Our rooster is getting tired of her and is favoring our Claret we have in there and now the toppy hen is attacking her. Last night the rooster actually pushed her down many times from the pole to get the claret to sit beside him and then the toppy hen would start attacking her getting her down and then sit beside him. We are at a lost on what to do. Also our Kelso hens are eating their eggs right after they lay them. They do it at least once a day if we don't get there on time. We are going to try putting golf balls in their pen and hopefully that resolves it since them and our blues are our hens that lay once a day and are mostly fertile. Anyone got any ideas?

 

[Happy Chooks]

How old is the hen that is not laying?

 

[wells06]

I think she is either 3 or 4 but hasn't laid any eggs until this spring before. She had only laid 4 and only one is fertile. When do hens stop?

 

[Happy Chooks]

It really depends. I have a 5 year old hen laying fairly regularly still, but I've lost other hens to reproductive issues at 4 years old. You just never know. She could be internally laying, which will eventually lead to a massive infection. There isn't anything you can do for it.