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

[Cass]

Quote:
Grab a big pot and a large wooden spoon. Go down to the coop and rattle the spoon inside the pot, while calling out "Here chicky, chicky". Sometimes a little "shock therapy" works wonders. LOL

Sending you sympathic thoughts. Mine are 6 months old and aren't laying either, so I am still cracking 2 small eggs for every "large egg" called for in a recipe.

But I promise, they will lay eventually. They just didn't get the same memo on "average laying age" we did.

 

[jcoi812]

Thanks for the info, I love this place. Mine are free ranging and have hidden before, Maybe I should look harder or keep them in longer. Here in Colorado Springs the days have gotten shorter and the temps have been all over the place. That was what I attributed to the low production.
thanks again

 

[The French Hen]

Are there other Floridians out there who are experiencing the problem of your chickens not laying eggs ?

I have 13 chickens I got on March 3, 2011 they were born March 1st. 5 or 6 of them started laying eggs the last 2 weeks of July, which I am told was early for them to start laying that they usually don't lay until 6 or 7 months old. Those 5 or 6 were not even 6 months old but they were laying just fine. I was get 5 or 6 a day then in August I was getting anywhere from 5 to 7 a day and continured to get 5 to 7 a day until about September 9th..it slowed down to 3 or 4 for about a week then went to 1 or 2 then 1 and now for the last 10 days I have not gotten any eggs.

I was told to change food from Layena to Layer crumbles...I did

I was told to add a light to the hen house because they need 14 hours of light a day to lay eggs...I did...but it is not a really bright light...maybe it should be brighter.

I talked to the lady I buy my eggs and chickens from and she said she is experiencing the same problem and that a lot of her customers are calling her with the same problem. She told me not to worry about it and they should start laying again soon.

I have talked to several of the feed stores around me and they said they have not heard of anyone not laying right now and they are the ones who told me to switch food and add a light.

I just don't understand. First of all 7 had obviously started laying and now have stopped the remaining never did start laying and they are all now 7 months old.

Am I doing something wrong ?

Is there anything else I can do to get them back on track ?

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sjisty]

I have around 30-ish chickens (afraid to count to see how many I really have) and am getting one or two eggs a day right now. My backyard looks like a pillow factory exploded and my girls/guys are really looking ragged. I'm hoping when they get over this moult, they will get back to their laying habits.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Do they free range? Have you wormed them lately or ever? Do they have lice or mites? A change in food will throw them off, but they DO need to be on a "layer" feed for the nutrients in that feed as opposed to "grower" food which doesn't have the calcium they need. Do you have too many roos? Over breeding will stress them and cause them to stop laying (a contradiction I know, but true)
Are you seeing a LOT of feathers in the coop indicating they are moulting? Are you an indulgent momma and giving them more treats than they should have, just cuz you have the stuff around? They need their regular feed to be 90-95% of their food, treats can throw off their laying rhythm. (I know mine will eat treats all day and not lay for weeks after I give them to many)

Personally? I think the extra sun spot activity is causing a lot of problems with livestock. Everyone I talk to is complaining about low production and loss of newborns, unlike any year they can remember in the past.

 

[stoutfamily]

I have a quick question... after how many days of not laying should I be concerned?
I have 2 chickens and one is laying while the other is not (they lay different colors so it is easy to tell). They are the same age - born in February, both free range and eat the same layer feed. I read the articles posted and we have had some really random weather lately, so I'm thinking that may be the cause, but it's been almost a week and I'm a bit worried.
Thanks for any help!

 

[flocksalot]

Quote:
Is she sitting in the nest box a lot? Two of my mid March girls went very very broody on us, and one just a bit. They all stopped laying. DB never fully went broody and soon was back to laying. The other two will be mommies in about a week. You could also watch to see if your other one is keeping her out of the nest box or if she is laying in a hiden spot. One of our girls from the same earlier batch has been hiding eggs all over. She actually started laying right beside the very busy highway. I had to put up a fence to discourage that. Then she squeezed under the hen house and layed. She got stuck or we would have never thought to look there. Once it snows she should get the idea hopefully. Other things to check for is molt, pests, predators, stress, and illness. Some chickens are immune to stress and others are ......well CHICKENS. We had one that was just terribley flighty. She would freek out if a gnat landed near her. Liturally she did. My son took to catching her and cuddling her until she started to trust him. Now she runs to him for protection from that big scary leaf that flew past. She's still a big chicken, but has developed some secure areas. She now only lays when my son is around and since school is in session she only lays in the evenings and weekends, but often skips days until she can't hold it in. We had another that would freak out if we looked into the nest box when she was in there. She would run out squaking like we just tried to kill her and nary an egg we would see from her until she settled down. Which could be a few days or a few weeks. She was beautiful, but screwy in the head. We don't cull our hens when they get ill as many do. Our girls are my 7 almost 8 yearl olds pets and responsibility. All 139 and counting. He (As in Mom take care of them for me......all big sad eyes and quivering lips) would rather deal with an occasional bout of illness and nursemaid them back to health. He has lost a few over time, but that is to be expected. But to be honest I would place a bet that she has found a nifty new spot to lay her eggs. They are like boys it's easier to go outside than go through the whole trouble of going inside. I knew we were short on eggs and I just know they were laying out in the woods, but for the life of me I couldn't find it. That was until the leaves started falling and there they were about 150 eggs in one hugh communal nest. You would think that that many would be visible, but they found a good place to hide them. It was after all too hot to leave the shady area. Any little dark area and I mean little sometimes and you better take a good look.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
At a week there is no worry. When it gets to be 6 months, then worry. They just didn't get the memo regarding "average laying age", so wait til they are older, then wait some more. Right after you decide that you love them even if they don't EVER lay an egg, they will lay you the cutest egg you ever saw.

PS it's going into winter in the northern hemishere.....they may not lay until Spring. UGH!!!

 

[The French Hen]

Dear Overrun

Do they free range? Have you wormed them lately or ever? Do they have lice or mites? A change in food will throw them off, but they DO need to be on a "layer" feed for the nutrients in that feed as opposed to "grower" food which doesn't have the calcium they need. Do you have too many roos? Over breeding will stress them and cause them to stop laying (a contradiction I know, but true)
Are you seeing a LOT of feathers in the coop indicating they are moulting? Are you an indulgent momma and giving them more treats than they should have, just cuz you have the stuff around? They need their regular feed to be 90-95% of their food, treats can throw off their laying rhythm. (I know mine will eat treats all day and not lay for weeks after I give them to many)

Personally? I think the extra sun spot activity is causing a lot of problems with livestock. Everyone I talk to is complaining about low production and loss of newborns, unlike any year they can remember in the past.


No they do not free range...no I have not wormed them ever....They do not have lice or mites cause I had my neighbor guy check plus I checked and didn't see anything but that doesn't mean anything so I had him do it too. They are on Layer crumbles....I have NO roos....I am not an indulgent momma...they only get some kind of treat once or twice a week only...but I have given them chicken scratch 4 or 5 days a week...

I do see quite a few feathers but I wouldn't say a Lot a Lot but there are some but chickens don't look naked or anything they look big and robust..infact..I was thinking I feed them too much...I leave food for them down at all times. We top off the feeder everyday so it never goes empty. Once a week I empty it into a bin and clean the feeder then fill it back up again....The water containers are changed daily so they have plenty of water.....The feed store told me to put some duramiacin in the water every day for a week...he says it's an antibiotic....won't hurt them but might help he says.


OK...any other ideas..............I put a light in the coop now so we can give them more daylight hours......I checked out a few of the links listed here on the boards and it says they need 14 to 16 hours of daylight to produce eggs.

but my friend in North Carolina has 17 chickens and gets 12 eggs a day and has all summer and it has not changed....her days are just as long as mine...so why wouldn't her production go down. I feed the same as she does...and I don't give mine as much garbage as she does...so maybe I should give them more garbage...she gives them tons of left overs and bread and all that stuff... I do lettuce and shredded carrots and left over potatoes, rice or vegetables....I did give them watermellon in September when I had too many in my garden and they loved it...

Oh well...any ideas, thoughts, suggestions or comments are always welcome. I am just so new at this chicken stuff and here I thought I was doing so good too !!!! Darn

 

[Cass]

Quote:
You ARE doing good. Your chickens are bug free, happy and healthy.

You could try not giving ANY scratch for 2 weeks and see what happens. Scratch IS a treat, albeit a healthier one than some of the other stuff people give their chickens (who always lay better than mine do, sigh)

Sometimes it is just they didn't get the memo on laying schedules....and it isn't anything you do or don't do.

Case in point, I gave my chickens some apples (from the neighbors trees) and I didn't get an egg for 3 days. The neighbor's girls came over to give the chickens some apples the following week and the chickens laid an EXTRA egg for the following 2 days. SIGH. Sometimes there is no reason for why chickens do what they do.