If hens stop laying due to a stress event, when will they start back up?
A little background: We have five four-month-old pullets (mixed easter-eggers). Someone was giving away 4 two-year-old Dominiques and we decided to take them on. They had been kept with a rooster, but we couldn't take the rooster.
They seemed to be doing fine with the adjustment to their new coop and coop-mates. We have a 40 sq. ft. coop, with a 90 sq. ft. run and a "playpen" chicken tractor that I use in the afternoon to give them a few hours in new grass. They eat laying feed, have grit and oyster shell, and get some leftovers.
The Dominiques were laying 2 to 4 eggs a day when we got them and this continued for two weeks. Then, suddenly, they've dropped to one egg a day. I realize they are older and production should slow down soon, but could this be residual stress from the move after two weeks? Do hens that are used to having a rooster around, decrease in production?
In any case, if it's stress from the move, loss of rooster, or a new environment will they return to their usual production and, if so, when?
Thanks for your help! This is our first foray into the chicken world.
-Outer Beaks
A little background: We have five four-month-old pullets (mixed easter-eggers). Someone was giving away 4 two-year-old Dominiques and we decided to take them on. They had been kept with a rooster, but we couldn't take the rooster.
They seemed to be doing fine with the adjustment to their new coop and coop-mates. We have a 40 sq. ft. coop, with a 90 sq. ft. run and a "playpen" chicken tractor that I use in the afternoon to give them a few hours in new grass. They eat laying feed, have grit and oyster shell, and get some leftovers.
The Dominiques were laying 2 to 4 eggs a day when we got them and this continued for two weeks. Then, suddenly, they've dropped to one egg a day. I realize they are older and production should slow down soon, but could this be residual stress from the move after two weeks? Do hens that are used to having a rooster around, decrease in production?
In any case, if it's stress from the move, loss of rooster, or a new environment will they return to their usual production and, if so, when?
Thanks for your help! This is our first foray into the chicken world.
-Outer Beaks
