Why are my 9-month-old hens not laying?!

[chicken mama 0908]

I have 20 hens, 8 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Silver Laced Sussex, 2 Isa Browns, 4 Ameraucanas, and one mystery hen. They all are 9 months old. I have lights in the coop and a few months ago, one hen started laying. Then three days later we had a cold snap and she stopped laying. I have not got an egg from any of my hens since. I am feeding them Scratch and Peck layer feed which I ferment. I rotate through 3 containers and do a batch in each; they ferment 3 days before I feed them to the chickens. I thought they were not getting enough food (at the time I was feeding them 1/4 cup per bird a day) so, last month I upped their food a little. As they still didn't lay, I upped it even more a few days ago. Now I ferment 4 cups per batch which doubles to 8 cups (just under 1/2 cup per bird). Recently I started feeding half of it to them in the morning the rest in the evening. They always eat all available food at a feeding.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

My 5 hens (two are three years old and three are one year old and only 4 are laying) go through ~2-3 cups of food a day. They do knock a lot out but they eat that still. I would suggest putting out a feeder that they can free feed from 24/7. I also would not feed them layer feed yet as none are laying and that extra calcium isn’t good as they can’t get it out of their system easily.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

Don't they need a lot of calcium to lay?

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Don't they need a lot of calcium to lay?

They only need the calcium for the egg shells once they are starting to lay. A high amount of protein is actually what is needed to make the eggs. If you want you can get a 20% protein all flock feed and have a container of oyster shells where the pullets can regulate their own calcium intake. Too much calcium built up in their systems can cause issues too.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

My 5 hens (two are three years old and three are one year old and only 4 are laying) go through ~2-3 cups of food a day. They do knock a lot out but they eat that still. I would suggest putting out a feeder that they can free feed from 24/7. I also would not feed them layer feed yet as none are laying and that extra calcium isn’t good as they can’t get it out of their system easily.

I did the math and when your birds eat 2 cups of feed, they get exactly what my birds do (per 5 hens). Would it work just to up my feeding amounts a little more to match up with the max your birds will eat.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

They only need the calcium for the egg shells once they are starting to lay. A high amount of protein is actually what is needed to make the eggs. If you want you can get a 20% protein all flock feed and have a container of oyster shells where the pullets can regulate their own calcium intake. Too much calcium built up in their systems can cause issues too.

Something like this?
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/natures-best-organic-all-flock-crumbles-40-lb-4bm0290c

 

[StinkyAcres]

I would also free feed dry feed along with the daily fermented feed. Check for mites too; they can really reduce egg production.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

I would also free feed dry feed along with the daily fermented feed. Check for mites too; they can really reduce egg production.

Free feeding is just SUPER expensive. I always thought fermented feed is healthier.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Free feeding is just SUPER expensive. I always thought fermented feed is healthier.

Do you free range? And do they have a lawn or pasture to forage and graze in? Fermented feed may be healthy, but by limiting their mealtimes to twice a day you may not be allowing them to eat whenever they need to.

 

[SmiYa0126]

If they're eating all those food when you feed them they might not be getting enough and are stressed. Can you give them kitchen scraps in between?