What would be your reaction if this happened to you?

[Laurajean]

Too soon to tell. Like the others said, give them some more time to adjust. Between the long drive, a new environment, and "stranger" chickens (your other ones), they have a lot to adjust to. Not to mention a likely change in feed, routine, etc. Chickens can be sensitive, they probably just need some more time. Hang in there and don't freak quite yet.

 

[lucky123]

I would really like to hope you are right, but over 30yrs experience tells me they are at the end of their egg laying cycle. I don't know about any breeds but dual purpose, such as rir's,rocks and orpingtons. I can tell you that i have never seen any of these breeds quit laying this time of year over a few days due to moving. I don't know where the notion that i was freaking out came from, but i assure you i wasn't, just stating facts. I have over a hundred, so, these four didn't make me freak out. Not my first rodeo. Not the first time i have bought spent hens. I did think it was odd that no one gave a opinion on my original question and just assumed i was a beginner. I am confident enough that i will take half of what i have in them, only with the understanding that i will no way guarantee them to lay. See, this is the problem. How many people would buy anykind of hens that don't lay? I would never lie, so, what would you do with them? They are lavender orpingtons.

 

[theoldchick]

So, I guess some chicken dealers are like used car salespeople....can't trust them or the product they sell. Kinda reminds me of a few horse dealers, too.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Well, if I had lav orps and four hens and a roo, too old to lay but still get a few eggs here and there - I'd try and hatch a few and sell them.
Actually your last post revealed more about them and you than your first post, so forgive me if I thought you were new since your first post didn't reveal to much about your situation.

 

[sheaviance1]

My reaction would depend largely on the reason that I bought them. If I wanted layers, I'd be LIVID! Lawn ornaments, well, they sound pretty enough, so

 

[Heckel's Hens]

That is just not right.

I bought laying hens and they kept laying since the afternoon I brought them home. I know it is common for them to take a break from the stress, and the man who sold them to me even cautioned me about that. But 4 weeks? Sorry!!

 

[mandelyn]

It can take as little as week or as long as a month for girls to start laying regular after a BIG change in environment. Some will get thrown off by moving to a new coop across the yard. Others won't. But every adult hen I've ever had, took a couple weeks to get going again depending on what situation I took them out of. Two hens, came from cramped quarters and awful roosters. Took them 3 weeks. Two other hens, great space and place, took them each 4-5 days.

But, if age is a factor, how big are the eggs? Did you spot who laid what one from the couple eggs you did get?

Were you looking to sell the eggs for hatching and remake some money back? If that was a goal, I would set every egg they popped out into the incubator, and see if you could create a new flock for next year. Either their laying will improve, or you'll be able to scavenge enough to start a new flock.

I would be pretty ticked off after a couple of months and still no improvement or natural reasons of why they're not laying, such as molt. I'd be setting every egg I got in hopes making a new flock from them.

But with the nature of these sales... what can you do? I just bought two Flemish Giant doe kits, and yesterday when I was playing with them, I started to notice very key differences between them, yes, they're the same color. But size, face shape, ear shape, I started noticing all that, and one I'll bet is a cross and not purebred. So I got 1 1/2 Flemish Giants, when I paid for two. Luckily I didn't pay for pedigreed and more expensive bunnies, I won't do that unless they have a tattoo as proof. He had a set of breeding bunnies too, for $250. I didn't know the guy well enough to spend all that.

It's risky buying from strangers, even if they have a good reputation. Have you tried contacting them and seeing if they have explanations/excuses and maybe even a resolution?

It makes sense that they would have sold these birds when they noticed a decrease in laying, so they decided to let them go. You can contact them and see what they say, it was a lot of money. Or make lemonade, and hatch every egg you get. I'd keep on hatching until I felt I got my monies worth in chicks. Because if they lied, and made the sale under false pretenses, you can bet they'll be hard to deal with and they'll either ignore your calls/emails, claim innocence, that whole ridiculous thing lying sellers do after their lies are known. It's not quite enough money to take them to court or anything.

 

[dutchhollow]

How old did they say they were? Did they appear to be in production(laying) red combs, vents?

 

[dewey]

I was just going to ask how did their vents look? Pink and moist, or shriveled and dry.

If the vents looked good when I bought them then I'd feel confident they were still laying age and would just figure it'll take some more time.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

FWIW, I've had 10 year old birds that still laid. My true araucana is 8 and still lays occasionally. As was said, check the vent, make sure they are on a good diet (even though your other birds eat the same, they are used to it, these new girls are not). Might want to ask the seller what he was feeding them.