Very Frustrated Newbie

[acreativemrs]

I have 4 ladies I was given them in September of this year. They are a year old and "layers"...supposedly. I know they have an adjustment period and I also know that living in Michigan and having the cold weather also has an effect. They have a mash from the local mill with a composition of oyster shells, corn and minerals. We also give them pellets...they snag the ducks pellets. They free range the rest of the time. We have also installed a solar LED light in the coop to encourage laying.....nada. No eggs.

 

[bstromgren]

Sounds like nutrition is not the problem. Perhaps they are laying their eggs elsewhere since they free range or maybe they are older than stated and are retired.

 

[aart]

When is your light on? They need 14 hours preferably in the morning so natural sunset can lead them to roost.
Have you tried confining them to the coop for 2-3 days to acclimate them to their new 'home' and leave them nowhere else to lay?

 

[acreativemrs]

The light comes on at dusk on its own. And yes, the first two weeks we kept them in the coop to establish their home. I keep looking where they like to go to make sure they weren't laying in the yard. Lol I was hoping to find a stash somewhere but no such luck.

 

[FloridaFarmGuy]

Chickens grow very quickly early in life. I was given chickens in August that I would have sworn were full grown but were only four months old.
They just started laying this weekend.
Are you sure you weren't lied to about the age? Perhaps they are still young? Hopefully they aren't older and past their prime.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[aart]

The light comes on at dusk on its own. And yes, the first two weeks we kept them in the coop to establish their home. I keep looking where they like to go to make sure they weren't laying in the yard. Lol I was hoping to find a stash somewhere but no such luck.

How long the light stays on is important.....they need 12-14 hours of light, 16 hours max(they need to rest too)......I prefer it come on early in the morning so it doesn't interfere with their going to roost at night.

 

[Cindy in PA]

If they are " year old layers", I would suspect they are end of first year layers & 14-18 months old. If that's the case, they are probably molting and getting ready for their 2nd year of laying.

 

[sourland]

If they are " year old layers", I would suspect they are end of first year layers & 14-18 months old. If that's the case, they are probably molting and getting ready for their 2nd year of laying.

Very likely this plus a factor of shortened days. Adding light in the AM is less disruptive of normal activities - going to roost.