What can i do to help my hens want to lay?

[ArizonaREd]

I have 6 hens (different breeds) NONE are laying!!! i've given them 'eggmaker' food and oystershells but still no eggs!!

 

[CHIC]

I have heard that ceramic eggs work

 

[Kittymomma]

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They start when they're ready and not a moment before. How old and what breeds do you have? They're combs and wattles will develop and redden just before they start to lay and sometimes there are behavior changes too. Can you post a picture? Might be able to tell if they're getting close. This is a tough time of year since the daylight hours are decreasing and that often slows egg production down.

 

[ArizonaREd]

i can have pics tomorrow, i have 2 R I Rs and 1 americana but i'm not sure what the other 3 are. one is real small and white one is all black and one is black and gold w/feathers on her feet. i'm not really sure of their ages but i got all but the black/gold one as chicks before the summer (July). Goldie as we call her was an adult when we got her.

 

[Kittymomma]

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If you got them as chicks in July you probably have a couple more months to go. That would put them around December during the shortest avg. daylight for the year so it might be even later then that

. If your adult hen is over three you probably won't get much out of her either. Sorry, I know how hard the waiting is. Get some pictures anyhow, you never know.

ETA: If the hatch date was in July they should still be on starter/grower feed and not layer.

 

[rufus]

They lay when they are ready, but we used to give them red chili when they are about twenty weeks old. That is supposed to start them, but that may just be superstition.

Rufus

 

[Mahonri]

Red chili, hmmm worth a try!

 

[cap1717]

I got my first egg today! Hooray! I'm certain it is from "Blue", the Barred Rock,as she is the only one that has started to "squat". . . . a perfect, small but not tiny, egg, and she laid it in a corner of the shed. . . rather than in her nest box. Oh Well. . .. that's what happens when they get to free range. . . .

 

[Kittymomma]

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