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

[chiggerbit]

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First

Lots of help here.... Just no real answers to "why aren' t they laying.

Chickens don't read our calendar. And they don't answer directly to our questioning. Have you read through this thread for ideas? Internal laying can be a problem , but both at the same time? I doubt that.

Sometimes showing them the stock pot and telling them they are going to find themselves IN IT if they don't lay soon works.

Sometimes changing their feed works. I do know, from personal experience that giving them too many treats causes them to stop laying or lay irregularly. I was getting 3 -4 eggs a day from 4 hens until the rain started and I picked up worms for them ... as a treat. MANY worms. They stopped laying. Never resumed at the rate they were, now they are out free ranging every day. (Now I have one of my daily layers gone broody on me, so I am lucky to get an egg a day. I'm looking for a large stock pot to take down there.

)

Sorry, I'm reading my way through all the pages on this thread, so this reply is to this older comment. About those worms. Do you mean earthworms? Ten or so years ago I read a book on chickens written in the thirties, I think it was, and I seem to remember it saying something about earthworms being one of the hosts or something to tapeworms. OK, it was an old book and science may say something else altogether different today. But I did a quick google, and although I've found nothing yet on tapeworms, I did find this interesting link about parasites and pathogens that can infect earthworms:

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/may-jun00/worms.html

Just something to consider.

 

[speckledhen]

Earthworms can carry a nematode that gives your birds gapeworm, a worm that ends up in the throat and as it grows, can actually choke the bird to death.

 

[Cass]

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Earthworms can be host to any and all internal worms in livestock. Since I worm my chickens twice a year (more often if I notice anything in the poo) I didn't see the harm in feeding them to the chickens. Ahhh...I was wrong. They stopped laying. I wormed them again. They have never really resumed laying at the rate they were prior to their earthworm gluttony. Since my chicken free range daily there is no way I can keep them from eating worms once in a while, but from now on they are going to have to find them themselved. I learned my lesson and am sincerely glad the whole flock wasn't of laying age at the time. When the pullets start laying they will take up the slack in my egg basket.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm about to do a worming of all the flocks, starting tomorrow. Don't look forward to it, but it hasn't been done in over a year for all except a few elderly hens, and they are in slow production right now, so figured this time, just after a long, hot, humid summer might be a great time to do it.

 

[Cass]

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What are you using to worm them ?

 

[speckledhen]

I'm using Invermectin Pour On this time around. Not enough money for Valbazen, which is what I'd prefer.

 

[Cass]

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Thank you. I THOUGHT those could be used for chickens, but they said "nooooo" at TSC. Next time I am in I am gonna get some before everyone starts laying and I have to withdraw eggs AGAIN. How long are you supposed to not eat the eggs when you use those?

 

[speckledhen]

Well, most say 2 weeks for invermectin and don't recall for Valbazen, but I'm not going to wait that long myself. I may do a week at most. I'm not too cautious about stuff like that.

TSC folks usually know nothing about anything to do with chickens. Almost everything we use for chickens is off-label anyway.

 

[Cass]

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I know it's off label...they told me it would kill my chickens...I bought something else. UNfortunately the person I was talking to was a "usual TSC" employee...the one I SHOULD have been talking to (the only one in the store who actually HAS chickens) wasn't there the day I was in. I think I'll save my pennies and get some Invermectin and do them soon....before my LF pullets start laying. Then "egg withdrawal" won't be a problem, since almost no one is currently laying.

 

[chiggerbit]

Quote:
Earthworms can be host to any and all internal worms in livestock. Since I worm my chickens twice a year (more often if I notice anything in the poo) I didn't see the harm in feeding them to the chickens. Ahhh...I was wrong. They stopped laying. I wormed them again. They have never really resumed laying at the rate they were prior to their earthworm gluttony. Since my chicken free range daily there is no way I can keep them from eating worms once in a while, but from now on they are going to have to find them themselved. I learned my lesson and am sincerely glad the whole flock wasn't of laying age at the time. When the pullets start laying they will take up the slack in my egg basket.

I don't know if this would apply to chickens, but one vet I use says that two wormings are needed for my cats and dogs: the first worming kills the adult worms, the second (I think about 10 days later) kills any newly hatched worms that were eggs during the first worming, before they can mature enough to reproduce.