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

[PaulaG]

Thank you

I won't worry too much and just see how things pan out. She seems very well and healthy so maybe it is just a molting thing

Paula

 

[donnavee]

I have a flock of 20 and only the 11 I got this Spring are laying along with one of the original girls that is 2 1/2 yrs old. All the others are either molting or just taking a nice long break.

 

[PsychoChicken]

All I want for Christmas is for my chickens to lay!

I can't figure out what it is. I got 3 hens at the beginning of Oct. that are all supposed to be around a year old (2 Plymouths, 1 Ameraucana). Only one of the Plymouths has been laying. She never even stopped to adjust to her new home. She lays almost every day. At the beginning of Nov. I added two 4 month old Black Australorps to the flock. There weren't any real integration problems and they seems to be settled now. It's been a month plus since I added the new hens and still only one Plymouth is laying... could it be that the older girls are still stressed from that?

I keep worrying that maybe one of them is sick but then I don't see any obvious signs of it. None of them are molting. I make sure they have fresh water all the time. They always have lay pellets available. I give them cracked corn and table scraps as a treat. They free range around my yard. Their coop is pretty clean most of the time especially because they are usually only in there at night and I tend to clean out the nesting box every day or two. I have checked everywhere for a hidden clutch of eggs in the yard to no avail. None of them have been broody.

Is it the shorten days? Is it the presence of cats who harmlessly stalk them sometimes (despite the fact that I spray them with a water gun when they do)?

Gah!

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[flocksalot]

Quote:
Make sure those treats are very limited. My neighbor was coming down feeding the girls some corn (just a few handfuls for each house) every day when he came to pick up breakfast. Since I knew he was throwing them some I never did. Over time it became more and more. Then the eggs became less and less. I had to tell him no more corn or any other goodies. When they get too fat they stop laying. Also some chickens are very fearful of any predator. Mine however mostly are not. Just last week they chased a fox up the hill to our neighbors house. The fox was on my neighbors property, but the girls didn't like him staring longingly at them. I got a laugh, my neighbor got a laugh and a great story to tell around town, the chickens got their panties all in a twist, the roosters got to show what big protectors they are (of course the hens already had him on the run) and the fox I think got the begeezes scared out of him. Some of my more sensitive chickens crawled under their houses for the day though. So if you stop the treats for a while and that doesn't work it may be the cats. At 4 months some chickens aren't ready to lay yet. Some don't get mature enough to lay until they are much older. When their combs and wattles get bright red and puffy they are mature enough and in laying condition.

 

[BlazeJester]

I am about to put my girls on lockdown until they start - more than one of them is very close to laying. One squatted for me a week ago and another looks like she's about to blow her head off her comb and wattles are so red. SO... into the run with layer feed they go until they get it figured out (of course it is also the holidays and they're getting a babysitter, so I won't hassle him with chicken roundups).

 

[PsychoChicken]

Hmmm there are 4 of us in the house and I have a feeling we all give them handfulls of corn when we go to see them... maybe that is it. The younger hens I think are too young still so I am not worried about them. They still have baby comb.

 

[flocksalot]

Quote:
If that's the case then I would definantely back off on the corn. A small amount here and there is fine, but as a daily or even more often it is like us eating candy all the time. We might love it but it's not good for us.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Train everyone to give them a handful of layer crumbles or pellets (whatever you choose to feed them). Everyone, except you, if you are their primary care giver. You want to train them to come for "treats" when you show up. It really, really helps if you have to put them in the coop earlier than they want to go in if they come running to see what you have when you walk toward the coop. I sincerely wish I had done this when I was new , cuz I spent many many hours rounding up chickens this past summer, when someone called on the weekend and I knew I was going to be away for quite a while. (Lots of hawks near me, so I don't leave them out of the coop when I am not home)

Treats don't have to be corn. My girls love cabbage, (I don't, they can have mine) Sunflower seeds, peas (frozen in the summer), lettuce (and they don't care if it is wilted, I do) and a whole lot of other things that make a balanced diet when fed in moderation. Mostly they get their regular feed, but I do like to give them extras. (I'm an empty nester in the house, so I over compensate in the coop)

One of the best treats I heard of in the winter is to mix their regular feed with warm/hot water (cuz it cools on way to coop) and make a thick oatmeal like cereal of it. They think you have given them a really really wonderful treat. And it's just their regular feed in a different texture. (Yes, they really do have bird brains.

)

 

[PsychoChicken]

Thanks for the tips - I am definitely going to cut back. I hope it works!

 

[SagebrushMama]

Um, I've found that keeping a light on my hens till 9PM helps keep the eggs rolling.