Why Aren't My Chickens Laying? Here Are Your Answers!

[speckledhen]

A rooster's presence has no bearing on whether a hen is laying or not. In fact, if they are hassled by an overly aggressive breeder, they may stop laying or not lay as much due to stress. That is another old farmers tale and I know because my dad, son of a farmer, said it all the time.

 

[ddzFunnyfarm]

Quote:
Agreed, SpeckledHen. I've read that from many posters in BYC and just recently had the experience ourselves.... two of the most adorable cochin bantams in the local feed store had pasty butt and were going down fast. I was offered them for free, so I nursed them back and they got even more adorable. Then, how did they repay my kindness??? They started crowing at about 4 1/2 months old - dang it!

Within 2 months they were little terrors in the flock. VERY prolific maters! Made all the girls so jumpy and anxious that egg production plummeted. We re-homed them easily, being so young and.... umm.... virile.

We're very happy (and so are the girls!) to have only 1 roo.

:yiipchick:yiipchick

*****
Devoted wife to the most patient coop-n-run builder on Earth, mom to 4 and their spouses, g-ma to 3+1 on the way

....I'm graciously allowed by the FunnyFarm inmates to serve them: Ruby the Lab/Pit galoot who thinks she's a lapdog, Smalls the slinky black feline who thinks she's God's gift to Ruby, 14 Jumbo CornishXs we're sending to Camp Freeze-em-up on April 1 (funny timing, eh?!!), Bruuuce the Ameraucana Roo who does not "get" that whole 'crow only at sun-up thing', our laying flock of 22 (Eenie, Meenie, Miney & Mo and The 3 Stooges the Ameraucanas, Cruella the WCBP and Balayage the GP, Lucy the RIR, Ethyl the NHR, Winnie & Dottie the BRs, Splash the SLW, Foghorn & Leghorn the WLs, Goldie & Starr the RSL & BSL, CC the Blk Minorca, JetBlue the Blue Andalusian, 'CBOF the Greedy' the Lt Brahma, and Abby-Normal the Red Frizzle Cochin Bantam who runs the place!)

 

[suburban]

It took a month for ours to start laying again (today!) after a big move and long heat wave.

 

[farm raised]

in the winter is that okay if my chickens are only laying about once every 4 days?

 

[chickpeaz]

Quote:
Dumb question: is it normal for a hen's comb to lighten over the winter? Will it redden up when she gets ready to start laying again? I was concerned because everybody was looking kinda scraggly and gray around the edges after the seemingly endless snowy winter we've had. I didn't know if it was normal for their combs to get pale or if I was dealing with frostbite. They're pretty cold-hardy LF breeds and I kept them in the barn with heatlamps on the worst cold days, so I really doubted it was frostbite, but I honestly didn't know if the combs lightened and darkened with the season/length of day/nutrition/moult/etc. This is our second winter with chickens, but they started laying late the first fall and layed steadily all through the first winter...this year we saw a definite dropoff in production so I'm wondering if the comb color change is related?

 

[speckledhen]

It's normal for combs to get paler and even shrink in size when they're molting and/or not laying. When they begin laying again, the combs get larger and redder. I wouldn't say that gray is normal--mine get pale, but never gray, during the molt.

 

[eddie w]

i would also say to many roos i just got rid of 5 and egg count is up by 3 to 4 eggs a day

 

[Fyrekitten]

I have a question - being a bit of a newbie to this...Our Barred Rock gals with their two henchmen Roos (Elivs and JP) have done really great this Winter - lots of eggs, even during the Winter. About a month ago it really picked up we have 9 hens and were getting 6-8 eggs a day. Of course we put more than several in the incubators since no one seemed broody. Now in the last week or so it has gone from 5 to 3 to the last day it has been one or two. Now, no one is being overly agressive although the Roos legs are nice and red tinted and they are trying their best to look suave but not harassing their gals (Besides, Henrietta the oldest of the Hens would still try to kick them in the tail feathers -their scared of her....) the other girls are only about 10 mos old so I'm not sure what's up - everyone's healthy, good food, good water and extra scratch grains and oyster shells.

Any help would be great - thanks!

 

[write2caroline]

I guess you could try to blame it on global warming -

My girls are laying fine - 21 eggs a day out of 25 laying pullets.

Not everyone lays an egg everyday but most do.

My cochin's lay every 3 days or so.

I do remember lamenting about when will my girls lay some eggs - they just did when they were good and ready. I really don't need 21 eggs a day. Some of my girls are just starting to near 18mos of age and they really don't always lay an egg a day but they are good broodies so I am counting on them to be the mommies of my future layers.

Caroline

 

[write2caroline]

I am sure Molting plays a part. My girls were not laying well during the molt.
Caroline