WHY are my hens not laying?!?!?!?!?

[shem]

I have hens of laying age that aren't laying and don't know why. I raised 15 chicks to about 12 weeks then sent half to live with my brother and Sister In Law. Theirs are laying away at this point, new girls laying daily, while mine are not producing anything yet. The only difference between the flocks are:

1) I have a roo that harasses my ladies and my brother doesn't. Some of the girls submit and some fight him.
2) My girls were brought into a coop with 3 year old laying hens. They have been living together for maybe 6 weeks and everyone gets along just fine

Is this enough to stress the girls and delay their laying?

 

[sumi]

Chickens hate change of any kind and something small like adding new hens to the flock can throw them out for awhile, so it is possible the stress is the reason here. Here are some more causes of non-laying:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/why-are-my-hens-not-laying

 

[MixedFlockNH]

It's the younger girls that are not laying, not the established layers.
PS, I'm the brother with the laying hens

 

[aart]

I have hens of laying age that aren't laying and don't know why. I raised 15 chicks to about 12 weeks then sent half to live with my brother and Sister In Law. Theirs are laying away at this point, new girls laying daily, while mine are not producing anything yet. The only difference between the flocks are:

1) I have a roo that harasses my ladies and my brother doesn't. Some of the girls submit and some fight him.
2) My girls were brought into a coop with 3 year old laying hens. They have been living together for maybe 6 weeks and everyone gets along just fine

Is this enough to stress the girls and delay their laying?

Is the rooster one of the younger birds?

I had a young roo who was stalking the older hens and his pullet hatch mates at the nests. I removed him from the coop and within several days my egg production doubled. The older hens resumed laying and the pullets began laying.

 

[shem]

He is young and I have one more roo who just started crowing today so he's not far behind. Maybe I should separate them from the girls for a bit to see if that resolves the problem.

 

[aart]

He is young and I have one more roo who just started crowing today so he's not far behind. Maybe I should separate them from the girls for a bit to see if that resolves the problem.

That would be the first thing I would try, put them out of sight if possible.

I had 3 young roos last week(about 15-17 weeks old), the first to mature was doing fine until the younger ones started crowing, then the oldest got very aggressive with the girls. I removed the 2 younger roos and the oldest is back to behaving himself. Competition can make a huge difference in roo behavior.

 

[shem]

I will try that then. If they do seem to be the problem can they be reintroduced at some point and if so how would I do that without completely disrupting the girls? These are my first roos so this is all completely new to me.

 

[aart]

I will try that then. If they do seem to be the problem can they be reintroduced at some point and if so how would I do that without completely disrupting the girls? These are my first roos so this is all completely new to me.

I believe so, but do not know from first hand experience....
......the roos I removed from the coop never returned, 2 I butchered and 1 was rehomed, as I have a senior roo that is too much of a prince to be replaced at this point.....
....and I am still not sure what I'll do with the jr roo I now have with my replacement pullets when I cull and integrate in the fall.