Why are my three year old hens not laying at all??

[Sara9]

I've never wormed them before, we try to keep them all natural and such.....should I?
Is their a way to tell if they have worms?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Worms could definitely be a factor. If you have a vet or some states have testing locations for fecal tests. Or you could just worm them. I like valbazen for a wormer. The most noticeable sign of worms is if you look at them and start thinking they look really thin. Of course, this is hard to do when they are molting, as they lose weight from that also.

It's not likely that 3 year old hens would have coccidiosis. How long have they been feathered back in from their molts? What do their combs look like? Pale and shriveled or bright and red?

 

[teach1rusl]

Yeah, the combs will be a good indicator of whether they're in healthy, tip-top shape or not. Full and bright red is a good sign of good health - pale and/or somewhat shriveled looking means the opposite. When my girls are molting, their combs look terrible. If they're three, it's natural that they'll take longer to make it through their molts, but if it's been since summer, then something else is going on; it shouldn't take 5 months (if that's what you're saying)....

 

[Sara9]

Maybe describing it as 'molting since summer' isn't really accurate on my part, but somewhere I believe I read that they kind of all molt at the same time due to the sun. My three and my rooster were kind of messy and ratty since this past summer and then randomly they would loose their feathers somewhat slowly and two of them took a month or so to grow back. So maybe what I'm saying is it's not like something is really wrong that is causing it to take a while, but it didn't go very well. One of my girls is still pretty naked and taking forever to grow her feathers back. Is it possible they pulled them out and that is why it took a while.
As for their combs, they are pretty red, I haven't noticed any change in the past year or so, but also with the very cold temperatures we have been having they might be more red now.
Thanks!

 

[teach1rusl]

You might need to put a saddle on your one girl. If you only have a few hens with your roo, even if he's fairly mannerly he's going to be doing a lot of feather damage, since he doesn't have a large flock to "spread his love around" to (lol)...Do you know if he favors the one girl who's having a hard time regrowing feathers??

 

[Sara9]

It's possible, although I don't really know.
We now have a total of 6 hens with our new girls from this year, and it does seem that especially the older ones look more 'ratty' towards the their back. This girl who often is featherless on her back to her tail is newer and in the lower part of the pecking order, might the other girls be getting her. I haven't noticed that. Although they get toys and scrap food to play with could she be bored and plucking herself? She does occasionally lay a nice light blue egg every week so I'm just confused all around.
Maybe I should clip back our roo's nails and spur, they are nasty and long....
I read something about oils on the birds food, like fish oil. Have you ever used it?
As for feeding chickens sunflower seeds or other seeds in the winter to keep them healthy, could I give them wild bird food?
Thanks for all your help

 

[Henpapa]

It's possible, although I don't really know.
We now have a total of 6 hens with our new girls from this year, and it does seem that especially the older ones look more 'ratty' towards the their back. This girl who often is featherless on her back to her tail is newer and in the lower part of the pecking order, might the other girls be getting her. I haven't noticed that. Although they get toys and scrap food to play with could she be bored and plucking herself? She does occasionally lay a nice light blue egg every week so I'm just confused all around.
Maybe I should clip back our roo's nails and spur, they are nasty and long....
I read something about oils on the birds food, like fish oil. Have you ever used it?
As for feeding chickens sunflower seeds or other seeds in the winter to keep them healthy, could I give them wild bird food?
Thanks for all your help

Bringing up old stories here but would really like to know if you ever determined the cause for your hens slow egg making? I have 14 hens 2-3 years old and they have all but stopped laying. Im getting 2-4 eggs a day where as they used to give 7-12 and this seemed to have happend over night. This has been going on for months now and trying to find a reason for it. Everything in this thread sounds just like what I have going on, same feed, treats, light, and all with one exception my chickens are free range. Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aart]

Bringing up old stories here but would really like to know if you ever determined the cause for your hens slow egg making?

That member is long gone.

all with one exception my chickens are free range.

That was going to be my first question @Henpapa .
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.