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

[Cass]

Quote:
I know stress is why I stopped laying...

 

[chinovalleychicky]

I haven't read the article in the link BUT I have read other articles, books and listened to seasoned chicken owners who all have their own take on when/what/etc. All but one of my girls started laying based on the averages cept Ms. America (Ameraucana) - how could I tell? She is the only one who lays greenish blue eggs. Why did she wait so long to do her 'thang' who knows but it's neat to see her playing with the big dogs per se and holding her own with egg production. She is also the talker among the bunch LOL and has plenty to say when I come out to visit.

 

[bluere11e]

Quote:
They're NOT?

I was certain they were.. I wonder where all the quarters I've been stuffing them with went?

 

[mpathhealr]

Quote:
I agree, a good post for a sticky!

Got the coop light thing going for several weeks now (they have 14 hours a day of daylight as recommended by numerous sources). Got them on the right food. Yes, they free range, but our backyard isn't very big and we do daily checks in every nook and cranny of our yard, under this, over that, behind the other... literally every inch of our yard is checked daily. I have a friend who also has hatchery chicks she acquired this year whose birds are the same age as mine, and she has no eggs, either. Her birds have at least had wattles and combs for several months now, but still no eggs. My RIR is just barely starting to show signs of developing teeny tiny wattles but no real comb. The BR is showing some teeny tiny comb but no wattles. Both are moderately pink in the face but nothing like the red in the face that my EE got or that our leghorn had when she started laying or like I have seen in photographs of other people's chickens. (Our leghorn has since gotten eggbound and passed away.)

We have made jokes about eating the RIR and BR if they don't produce come first of the year, as they will be over 9 months old at that point. I love my birds and they are primarily pets, but we got into this for the eggs. If I'm not going to get eggs from this flock, I'm going to get other chickens. I will definitely get my next birds from a better source... the guy I got these birds from is out of business now... presented himself as a breeder, turned out he just bought hatchery chicks from the feed store, raised them and sold them and lied about their ages. 0-2 month old chicks were supposed to be $3, 2-4 month old chicks $5, 4-6 month old pullets $8. We paid $8 apiece for them and were told they were not quite four months old, about 3-1/2 months except for the EE who was supposedly 4-1/2 months (and supposedly was a purebred Ameraucana, supposedly hatched from a bright blue egg... yah, I don't bloody think so). At any rate, the chickens were actually 6 weeks old at the time, except for the EE who was about a month older and double the size of everybody else (they're all the same now, though). Here we are six full months later, thinking we would have eggs within a couple of months, and our chooks aren't even maturing.

I don't know ANYONE who wouldn't be disappointed and a little ticked off at this point. I think this guy sold me duds. So far, only 2 of the 6 chickens he sold me have laid anything, and one of those got eggbound 6 weeks into laying and died. I ran into him at a poultry auction a couple of months ago and gave him the ol' stinkeye, tho. LOL.

I'm right there with you on both getting into this for the egg production and possible meat, if I can bring myself to properly butcher a chicken first off and a friend I've gotten to know 2ndly; and getting chicks from a "reputable" source at a local swap meet who claimed he is there every week and if I got Roos he'd make good. I bought 3, made a very Redneck temporary coop for the summer and as I finished the permanent coop (Also a bit redneck and definitely re-purposed materials) and put the almost matured in body birds in, they all began crowing! I CAN'T HAVE ROOS HERE.

I found someone else in his place who had chickens and inquired if they would be willing to swap my roos for hens and was well rewarded with 3 RIR who are the main of my mini flock. I then supplemented with what was supposed to be 2 black australorps pullets, one ended up a roo! To replace him I ended up with some crossbreed of a RIR and something darker of feather. That one, who endured weeks of vicious abuse from the Black is now the most intelligent and independent of my birds.

OOOO! Guess I've gotten off topic. Sorry. I still get so excited about my little flock right here in the "city".

So I've gotten eggs at pretty close to 1 per bird per day once they began to lay for 4 or 5 months now. I am hoping that they will continue to produce for more than just a year or two, molting and bad days aside. I would like to see 4 or 5 years, but having nearly no previous experience I know it could just be dreaming.

 

[aria122]

I have kept chickens for most of my life. Last year I got 20+ chicks in the early spring, NONE started laying until this Jan! They were 7-11 months when they started.

I had all the regular stuff, same as past years, these girls wern't interested.

What did it?
A friend had a crab broil, I brought home 2 large buckets of crab shells. Dumped them into the coop with out even crushing the shells. The girls ate ALL the shells within 3-4 days and a week or so later at least half of them had started laying, the rest have followed suite.

Don't know what was unappealing with the oyster shells, they must have needed more calcium.

 

[ddzFunnyfarm]

So glad to have come across this thread! Convinced we had "done something wrong" when 22 steady layers suddenly dropped production a few months ago from 14 eggs a day to 5 or 6, we researched, added and subtracted feeds/treats/supplements, adjusted their environment - all to no avail. To hear that lots of you had been experiencing this drop in # of eggs reassured us.

They now seem to be back to normal - whatever "normal" is......

*****
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!)

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

To al the many new eggs!

 

[chickenman2k3]

some reasons for hens not laying are poor nutrition,lack of light,extreme coldad/or wind, predators bothering them,parasites(internal or external),molting,age or it could be that shes laying but she or some other chicken is eating the eggs. some severely inbred strains of chickens will sometimes produce birds that dont lay. usually these are extremely small birds,but no always. if her comb is nice and red and her abdomen is full, she is probably laying or about to start.

 

[Claudias Coop]

I'm still new to this, but started out with 2 Hens. A 1 year old Amerucana & Leghorn.
They have a brand new Coop & are living in optimal conditions.
The leghorn is laying 6 out of 7 days.
The Amerucana has not laid for 1+month.
California weather has been sunny days & cool nights.
No other pets or predators in he backyard to stress them.
So why is one laying & one not????
I just got another Amerucana & will see what happens .
My question is: Should I keep the non laying Amerucana or Sell her.???
As sweet and tame as she is, I got them for eggs.

 

[campochicks]

I've had my chickens for about three weeks and only 2 of the 9 are laying. They aren't laying in the yard, because they haven't been out of the coop until today. How long does it take for them to settle in? Is there anything I can do to reduce stress? They get layer pellets, oyster shell, grit, and scratch as a treat. Is there something I'm missing? Some chicken keeping neighbors say a rooster will help? The 2 that are laying are laying pretty regularly about every 36-48 hours.

I suppose I'm just whining. It's just frustrating when coworkers ask me everyday how many eggs I got. They can't wait for free eggs.