Well, it was a mistake....buying grown egg layers....

[momoftwinsinwi]

I went to look at to buy 6 "red stars" 1 year old, woman had them on craigslist and it was close to the house. So I go there and went into the pen that the "red stars" were in, they are certainly not red stars, they were small and looked like they had been beat up...missing feathers...I asked what was wrong with them, the guy says it was from the roosters, so I tell him I will take a couple of them but they didn't look so good, so I picked out 2 of the better looking ones and he shows me some more birds in another pen, about 1/2 of these birds looked good, so I pick out another 4 hens...get them home and notice one of them the legs are really scaley, and now 4 days later, out of 6 hens I'm getting 3 eggs a day, I wonder if I picked out some old hens?? how do I tell? I feel like I rescued them and they are nice hens, my stepdaughter has named them all and walked around with "Casey" most of Sunday LOL...I'll send some pic's when I get home...poor things...

 

[ChickensInTheNorthWoods]

Scaley legs could be caused by mites. There are lots of threads here with ideas for treating.

 

[detali]

I got old hens from someone who no longer wanted them. One was so bare, she looked like she should go into the stew pot. But under my care she in now my best layer. The other one is now sitting on some eggs. We'll see what she will produce. So don't give up. Give them tender loveing care and they should thrive. Oh, by the way, young layers on average, only produce about 5 eggs a week.

 

[asher]

Keep in mind, too, that some hens take a while to get adjusted to a new home before they begin laying again.

 

[Mahonri]

Treat the scaley legs.

Feed them and give them TLC and they'll eventually produce

 

[momoftwinsinwi]

thanks folks!! they will get lots of TLC

 

[australorpchick]

Moving to a new home can be stressful and can affect your egg production. Give them tlc, good food and some time and they should start laying

 

[Scoot58]

I took in a 2 year old hen about a month ago. She was in rough shape when I got her and not laying but she is doing great now. She was alone for a few weeks but has now been with my 10 week old chicks and loving her new home. She gives us at least 5 eggs a week.
Like the others have said, just give them time and good care.

Good Luck.

 

[Zahboo]

It sounds like they just have mites and the rooster liked them. They may be getting back into the swing of things with laying, or are in their shock period from rehoming.

 

[PlumTuckered]

Missing feathers can be from a very active Rooster, and/or the Hens might be molting age. Scaley legs can be treated (with sevin dust or vaseline).
I've had chickens for 3 yrs now, even those listed on the Hatchery site as "daily layers" don't lay an egg every single day. At the moment I have 13 grown layers (and lots of babies, 60 chickens in total), a few times a week I get 13 eggs, most days I get between 7 and 9 eggs.

Michelle