Why aren't my ISA brown hens laying??

[BigOrangeRoo]

This is them on release day.. I spoke incorrectly earlier.. they were approx 9 months when I got them so would be roughly 11 months old now... so I was told

 

[BigOrangeRoo]

They could still be stressed from the move then the attacks.
I assume they were laying well at wherever you got them from?
You'd think ISA's would lay well despite all the upsets, but we are dealing with live animals so there's no guarantees
Are the layer feed and the scratch available all the time?

You do know that adding more birds is going to cause more stress, right?
How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Do you have a plan for integrating these new (how old?) birds?

 

[junebuggena]

This is them on release day.. I spoke incorrectly earlier.. they were approx 9 months when I got them so would be roughly 11 months old now... so I was told

A few of those birds look like they were just starting to molt. Could be that they were a bit older than you were led to believe. Molting would certainly explain the lack of eggs.

 

[junebuggena]

And that coop looks awfully small for 4 adult hens, especially since it's the only shelter.

 

[chickens really]

I was going to state that myself.....Yes, nothing is to scale.....


Cheers!

 

[BigOrangeRoo]

Thats an older picture... they have a much larger coop now with 6 nesting boxes. Plenty of room for up to 10 chickens. Which I'll have a total of 7. I cut that red & white coop down some closer to the ground and am using it now for the brooder coop.

 

[chickens really]

Yeah, a bit confused........


Cheers!

 

[junebuggena]

Thats an older picture... they have a much larger coop now with 6 nesting boxes. Plenty of room for up to 10 chickens. Which I'll have a total of 7. I cut that red & white coop down some closer to the ground and am using it now for the brooder coop.

A general starting point for coop space is 4 sq ft per bird. If the coop is the only shelter, you'll need even more coop space.

 

[chickens really]

You state its Bigger???

How much bigger? Chickens actually require lots of room so no bad habits start...Lack of space causes Pecking, egg production decline, health...etc.........


Cheers!

 

[donrae]

This is them on release day.. I spoke incorrectly earlier.. they were approx 9 months when I got them so would be roughly 11 months old now... so I was told

I'm wondering if they were older than the stated age. Can't tell much from the pic, although they don't have the uniformity of hatchery sex links.

did they molt after you got them?

My thought is they were someone's 18ish month old birds, ready to molt and take the winter off. How reliable do you consider the seller?