will this help my chicken lay?

[chickenbottom]

ok my dominique hen is 10 months old not laying she eats and drinks good but she does tend to open her mouth like she is panting and its quite weird because the weather has been really cool here in florida um ive also herd a goldball will help her start laying is this true? im not sure about it so i would liek to know

 

[JennsPeeps]

A golfball won't help her lay but if will encourage her, when she is ready to lay, to do so in the nesting box. It's not a guarantee but it does help.

Some breeds start quite late, but 10 months sounds really late. Is it possible she's laying somewhere and hiding her eggs?

 

[chickenbottom]

nope its not really posible she doesnt come out of the coop and run at all unless we bring her in the house because she is very babied

could she be stressed or something

 

[swtangel321]

Is she your only chickens or do you have others with her ?

 

[chickenbottom]

she is the only one for now since all the others where eaten. we have a shipment of babies coming from ideal they plan to be here on the 16th of january

but i know they cant go in with her for a few months we will keep them in our brooder box

 

[swtangel321]

Right, I saw your "looking for an incubator" post. Sorry about your loss's

Yes, she could be stressed about losing her flock mates, how long ago did it happen ?

Also chickens are VERY social animals, the need to be with others to be happy. You should look around your area for a hen her age or older so she can have a freind, There are a lot of ad's on Craigslist.com for hens (even if it's an older hen at least she will have a friend, and should be more happy)

 

[chickenbottom]

it was about 3 to 4 months ago

 

[chickenbottom]

isnt this the ideal laying time also and i have been trying to find one and i jsut herd about graigslist i will look on there

 

[dancingbear]

I replied to your other post about her diet, then I saw this one. Please look up info on gape worms and see if you think she may have them. If she does, it's easily treated, but must be treated. Florida is parasite heaven.

Chickens are social, but it sounds like the reasons she's not laying are physical. Between poor diet and possible internal parasites, she's got ample reason to not be laying yet.

The other possible reason for having her beak open like she's panting, is she could be too warm, but you say it's been very cool lately, so I doubt that's it.

Once you new chicks are feathered, you can put them out with her. Just keep a lamp for warmth where they can gather if they need to. I'd make sure she's free of parasites first, though.

 

[chickenbottom]

ok i will look gape worms up i have herd of them but i never really knew what they where i gave her a wormer about 2 days ago