Why chickens dont lay eggs

Click for more posts on: eggs , health , Top Post. Adjee August 11, at PM. Marla August 23, at AM. Newer Post Older Post Home. Solution: If you find the infection early enough then it can be successfully treated by a veterinarian. Sadly the infection is usually only discovered after the hen has laid a lash egg or perhaps died.

You should always get you birds from a reputable source to avoid bringing certain organisms such as salmonella into your flock. If a hen suffers from a predator attack or a serious scare she will most likely stop laying eggs for a while.

This is usually a stress reaction, rather like a post-traumatic stress reaction. If you have ever suffered from a very traumatic event you will understand that the body takes time to re-adjust to normality after a shocking incident. This reaction occurs regardless of whether or not the chicken has been physically injured. Solution: After the attack you should place the hen in a quiet and dark environment with some food and water.

If she has been injured you should treat the wounds accordingly. She will need time, patience and a lot of reassurance from you. As soon as possible you should integrate her with the flock. Otherwise she would have to endure the pecking order again and that will not help matters. Some hens get back to laying eggs quickly but some hens take several weeks until they get back into the swing of things. Malnutrition is the imbalance of nutrition either too much or too little.

To keep your hens in good shape and laying eggs they need balanced nutrition. A simple and easy way to tell if your hen is over or under weight is to pick her up and feel her keel breastbone. If she is too thin it will feel like it is sticking out, whereas if she is too fat you may have trouble locating the keel. To keep your flock in good health you should use the feed supplied by the industry. You can buy organic feeds if that is what you want although these cost a little more.

Some folks still like to mix their own poultry rations and that is fine as long as you know what you are doing. In addition to their feed you can give them treats as long as they are not overfed. This balance will keep them laying eggs. Will they be warm enough? What about frostbite and all the other little things that go along with it?

If the conditions become too hot for your hens then they will start to lay less. This is a physiological response to environmental stress. Solution: It is not always possible to keep the temperature in the preferred range but you do need to keep them cool. Shade is important, lots of clean fresh water, fans securely placed , frozen treats and water sprinklers will all help to keep them cool and laying eggs. Your chickens will need clean fresh water every day — you can use automatic waterers.

I use a cone. I put them in there, and let them relax. Then I cut the neck off. Let the blood drain on a bucket. It is wonderful for the garden. I think that if they have time to relax, it makes the meat more tender. C O M' and get your doubts cleared. When you indicated there would be flapping when you chop a chickens head off is kind of an understatement. That bird is going to go crazy and holding it by its feet is going to get you covered in blood.

I've seen chickens flapping on the ground and just stood back until it calmed down. Cut the corner out of a plastic shopping bag and slip the chickens head through so that its body is firmly in the bag. Tie it off and finish the business. You can hold the chicken now and let it bleed out without getting covered.

Why do you not mention that chickens molt. They will loose lot of feathers which some times you may think there is some thing wrong but there is not. It is a natural chicken thing. Hens also go through an egg cycle. They will take a rest period and make the next years egg roe. The roosters also molt. A Chickens real lifespan is 20 years. But if you change their feed to their nutritional needs they will not only keep laying, they will live longer!

I said of course! Because what I really need them for is body heat to help heat up the coop that is far too big for 5 chickens. After much hem hawing by her and me promising not to eat them she finally agreed to bring them over. Two red sex linked hens age joined my little flock. One of them had adult pasty butt and one of them had respiratory issues so bad she was vomiting up loogies.

They were both dull in luster with pale combs. I mix my own chicken feed from whole food I buy separately. About a week later a strange egg showed up in the nest box. Hm I thought. Maybe a fluke of one already laying. Two days pass and another just like the first appeared.

The smaller of the two grannies started laying again! I knew it was her because I walked past her and she squatted. She has laid every day since then. The rounder of the two never started laying again. She got depressed. She starved herself to death. Unsure why. Before that though she started doing well.

Grew more feathers. Foraged for bugs. But whenever I collected the eggs she would avoid looking at me. That perked her up for a couple more days. But then she just gave up.

Poor girl. I tried. The other one is shiny feisty bossy smart alert and perfectly content. Since then my pullets started laying so now everyone is laying! If you cut off the head, instead of letting it spay you with blood, have a box handy and holding the chicken by the legs with one hand, insert and hold the chicken "headless" first into the box.

What do you do if you accidentally nick the intestines when gutting the chicken? Is all lost, given the release of gut bacteria, or is there some way to "sterilize" the botched job? You still haven't fixed the part on how to take care of the eggs you gather - how long they are good, etc. Part 5 of the series on raising chickens keeps coming up with the duplicate of part 6 if memory serves. Thank you. Thanks for letting us know about the broken link! This has been fixed.

We raise both layers and meat chickens in large quantities. On butchering day we have a wooden frame that has 4 road pylons turned upside down, the top of each pylon was cut off. Simply put chicken in upside down, pull head through the hole and lop off with a sharp pair of snippers.

We also put bucket under to catch what little blood and the head as our dogs like to get in it. It works really well. One of the reasons they stop is because they also have less hours to eat. IF they go into brooding near this time, it can be dangerous, since they lack feathers to keep them warmer. My recommendation is to set a light on a timer, as was stated in the article, BUT set it to come on AFTER they sleep for about 8 or 9 hours and then goes off by daylight. This provides them with the opportunity to have extra nutrition during the colder days, yet rest enough.

If the light goes on in the evening and turns off in the middle of the night, they may not be up in their place for roosting and cannot see in the dark. A 4 watt LED bulb is perfect for most instances. I grew up on an egg ranch in Southern California when chickens were in "chicken houses", not cages.

We only ate our own chickens- either when they stopped laying or the very rare treat of a young rooster, a "fryer". I never realized my mother was a wonderful cook until I became an adult and found out everyone didn't eat like we did. She slow cooked the old chickens actually in a "dutch oven" inset on a gas stove and made chicken and dumplings.

They were to die for. I forget what else she made by slow cooking them but all her meals were wonderful. Chickens had metal "specs" on their noses so they wouldn't peck each other. Back in the '60's, in a non-urbanized section of Brooklyn NY, my parents had a few chickens for eggs. One weekend they went upstate and came home with a half dozen white hens that they had gotten from a commercial egg farm. The old gals had the typically clipped bills and un-thrifty feathers you might expect from factory hens that have lost their worth as profitable egg layers.

They had been doomed to whatever fate these older hens succumb to. I think Dad payed fifty cents per hen. Those old gals must have thought they had died and gone to chicken heaven! Turned out into our 8 x 10 shed turned hen house and having a 15 x 20 foot garden area to run in seemed to do the trick. Within a couple of weeks we were getting 3 or 4 eggs a week from each hen. Not enough to make a commercial enterprise worth keeping them, but for a backyard flock along with other hens that we had it was more than enough to keep us and most of our neighbors in eggs for years.

Growing up, here was the wisdom imparted to me. We had some chickens, no eggs would they lay. My wife said, "Honey, we're losing money. This isn't funny. Why won't they lay? He caught those chickens right off their guard. They're laying eggs, now, just like they use-ta, ever since that rooster, came into our yard. It's really funny, how those chickens lay.

They've laid him away. But his son is making those pullets lay. They're laying eggs, now, just like they use-ta, ever since that rooster, came into our ya-a-ard. I loved your share Paula. The part of the equation that I neglected to mention and had indeed forgotten was that we DID have a rooster in that backyard flock.

Might have made all the difference. What a great story! Those lucky ducks figuratively speaking. Well, it was really a win-win. So, we both learned about chickens from our fathers. I don't know if it was during the depression or when, but imagine how that would go over today, when I'm not sure you can even legally hang out laundry in your own back yard!

I'm grateful for organizations like the humane farming association. It was through them that I learned about factory farming. I was mortified enough learning how America's laws for humane treatment of farm animals, going back to the 's, were flagrantly ignored; then I discovered chickens were excluded from that legislation, anyway! Well I love that your chickens got a new lease on life. And I guess even with their bills clipped they had no problem scratchin' around. It made me smile to know they lived on for years.

I have 9 young hens of different breeds about 7 months old and all have been laying well since July-August. About 3 weeks ago Cinderella, an Ameraucana now renamed Cruella! Moana retreated to the nesting boxes and started to become broody. I was able to discourage the broodiness by constantly removing her from the box every couple of hours, over a day and a half, and removing the fake eggs I had in the boxes. The flock has since returned to 'normal', however, neither Cruella nor Moana have layed any eggs since their spat.

All the other hens are laying, although production has slowed with the shorter fall days. Any ideas on how to get them laying again I miss their green and dark brown eggs! I use a machetty instead of an axe , it cuts smoother and faster , also instead of plucking an old hen I skin them out like a dove, Start with a small cut on the underside of the neck and peel the bird out of the skin, quick and easy.

Putting down chickens is difficult for me. The layers would just fall over from old age! The meats were easier because we did not consider them pets. Still, I had difficulty eating chicken for a couple of months after the kill. Choose a cold day to do more than one hen. Have a hot tub for removing feathers - next to this a work table. Have a cold tub filled evening before to be really cold. Have a cleaning table next to the chill tub. Have a second cold tub for rinsing and chilling the chicken.

Have a third table for drying and wrapping. Begin at holding the chicken face forward under your arm and resting on your hip. They will usually go docile at this point. Then, grasp their head by gently brushing back the head feathers to just behind the head. Next firmly pull and twist your hand upwards quickly holding the chicken until it is still. You should feel the dislocation of the head from neck.

Holding until still protects the meat from any thrashing and you can take time to thank the chicken for being a big healthy chick.

Lay your chicken in a pile near your hot tub. Kill several at a time and then continue. Pluck by rubbing most of the feathers off it is very easy and quick. The wing and tail feathers are more difficult to pull out. I had to use pliers or let someone else do the tough feathers. Cleaning is easier because the blood goes to the vital organs, the head is intact, and the blood has congealed because of the very cold water.

Cut around the vent being careful to not damage intestines. Then remove the head. Reach inside the vent cut and gently pull out the offal and organs. The crop or gizzard is good eating as well as the heart and liver.

Toss these into separate bowls or tubs. Then cut off the feet. Some peoples eat these in soup. Place gutted, headless, footless chicken in the third cold water tub next to he wrapping station. I used paper towels to dry out the main cavity and then the outside. If you want skinless chicken, this is the time to pull off the skin with the paper towels. It is much easier this way. You can use masking tape to secure the last flap of the paper.

Using an indelible marker put the date on the paper, not the tape because it sometime falls off. No need for hours of fridge time, but put them a few at a time straight into your freezer. No bleeding, no waiting to freeze, no hot messy guts, ether. We would get together with other friends who also raised meats and become an assembly line of working together and sharing. It may take a time or two until you get a grasp on how much force is needed to dislocate the heads without ripping them off.

Cheap bug control in the hen house I begin with a large rubber feed tub or use a small, plastic wash tub from the hospital. They can be found easily at thrift shops. To this I add some yard sand, a small handful f garden lime and a generous handful of wood ash. I have never had a lice problem in any flock.

I call this The Chicken Spa! I will be glad to try and respond to any remarks or inquiries. Good Wishes Also I am having problems with finding broken eggs. I have tried putting golf balls in the nest but they just push them out. If I gather them in the afternoon they are fine, if I wait till morning when I feed them they are all broken and mostly pushed out of the nest. I am coming off winter with about 90 hens.

I fed them all winter and had great egg production. I want to go to pasture "only", and plenty of room. I have stopped feeding them.

They are grazing on pasture stuff and seem quite happy. I have watched their egg production go from about 3. However over that 2 week period their yolk color went from yellow to deep orange, and my customers love it. How do I get volume back up? Surely the commercial pasture egg guys don't go through this. Your hens have probably recovered by now, but anytime you change feed you'll see a drop in egg laying.

You'll also need to supplement with feed while they are on pasture. To protect your pasture you should move them every couple of days. I was told that adding crushed hot red peppers to the feed would keep the hens laying. I tried it, and they kept up the egg production through the winter. I kept some roosters too, although I don't know whether they kept the hens active and whether or not that might contribute to discouraging the girls from getting idle during the winter months.

Why would you not have a vet put your chicken to sleep if she is sick or in pain? Wouldn't that be more humane? Mainly, expense?

Vets charge a lot of money for an office visit, just to put a chicken to sleep. Most flock owners don't have the money to pay for that expense for something they don't consider 'pets'. There are exceptions, but also, most vets are not avian experts, and don't know the dosages to give for a chicken's euthanasia, and they will look at you like you're an idiot, knowing full well that you should be doing it yourself. If you can't kill a chicken yourself, then you have no business owning one.

I have a flock of three year old red sexlink hens who began pecking each other during their first molt. More than half have bald rumps or backs. They are free range on a half acre grassy orchard and seasonal garden.

I have been told if I get a rooster the hens will stop this behavior. Forgot to mention there are 13 hens and they do have a henhouse with multiple nest boxes but the door is open for them to go in and out at will. More than likely they're pulling the feathers off of each other to eat them, for extra minerals, and to speed up the process of molting.

Recommend that you give them higher protein feed during the molt season, such as Nutrena's Feather Fixer formula. It will help tremendously. I have one hen that the other hens are pecking at her so badly that it causes her to bleed. Why are they doing this and how do I stop it.? I don't know what to do hope that you can help. She's at the bottom of the pecking order hierarchy.

Usually this is the bird that is the most shyest, weakest, submissive, in the flock. Observe your flock to determine who is at the top of the hierarchy Separate this Alpha bird out of the flock for a few days. Then, after several days, re-introduce her to the flock. The pecking order will have been shuffled, and she'll be at the bottom of the order for a while, until things settle out.

This will give the first Omega bird a chance to re-establish herself higher up in the hierarchy. We recently bought butchard chickens from my nephew.

I read that after it is processed and frozen, it's better to wait 3 months before you eat the chicken. That it will taste better. Any truth to that? Thanks in advance! Hi, Beth. What we can offer for advice about freshly butchered is that you should let them rest for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator before freezing.

We have not heard about keeping them for any specific amount of time in the freezer to make them taste better. My husband and I had a girl with constant crop issues and made every attempt to help her We got some and put it in a bag and put that in a bucket and activated it with water.

The bag filled with carbon monoxide from the chemical reaction and it took less than 45 sec after placing her in the bag Just an option for urban chicken mom's to avoid Carnage Carbon monoxide causes the chickens to pass out painlessly. So yes, it's more humane than chopping a head off! She seems happy and healthy and well adjusted to her new flock. I had 4 hens which stop laying 2 months ago, introduced 3 more hens 1 month ago maybe lucky to get 1 egg every 2 days hens are 12 months old.

If you have ruled out all of the reasons this could be after reading this article. Here are two that may help. Our landlady gave us 7 hens 2 roosters one of the hen was sent over with her eggs she is getting ready to hatch but none of our hens are laying eggs she sent them over 4 days ago how long will it take for them to lay getting worried she sent feed and all over for us. I would be patient. There could be a number of reasons but time will tell. When did she say was the last time they laid?

Hello Team. I got a cockbird and two hens. Aseel breed. They have given me eggs daily and both went broody.

So I expected little chicks. This was a month ago. One of the hens broke a few eggs. One of them is molting. She has a bloody wound on her wing. The chicken run is regularly cleaned. I would wash and sterilize the wound. Be sure to check on it so it does not get infected and spread to other chickens. If it does, keep her separate from them until healed. There is a good chance she could be bullied.

We had a fox attack twice were 5 of our hen were killed ,then we bought new hens and same happened again so we kept remaining two hens closed in for a month to be sure it was safe they have never laid any eggs as they were at point of laying when we got them. We got 8 wee pullets that were henpecked they huddle together and wont come outside not sure what else we can do all eating and plenty of water.

Both situations seem high stress for the chickens. Which can impact laying. It is important to keep them happy and healthy for optimal laying so creating an environment where they begin to trust and get everything they need. Try separating the hen that is pecking from them. I would read up on your breed and see what their laying pattern is like. Hi Claire I have hens none of them is laying eggs.

Now I started them feeding with layer mash feed even still the hens not started the eggs. I am not getting single egg production. I am giving day light for 14 hours a day. Kindly suggest what to do. Still how many days it will start for egg production. Wow, hens is a lot to supervise and to really know why each individual hen is not laying can be confusing.

There are many factors that need to happen for them to be comfortable to lay. Like their own space, nesting box and minimal stress. Try checking out this article here on when laying happens and the factors needed. We have 62 chickens of different ages, types, and such. Feed is the same — laying pellets, they get oyster shell and free range all day.

They get good feed, plenty of sun, lots of fresh water, a secure area, … They seem happy and unstressed. Any ideas??? We are about to enter a new season which means new weather patterns.

When the cold months approach and leading up to them it is normal for egg production to slow and drop off. Other than that make sure to inspect for disease, mites, and watch for predators during free-range. Keep a watch on them because there could be some things you are missing if not checking on them often.

Also commercial feed can help in egg production. Do a search on what nutrients your current feed offers as far as egg laying. This is a very helpful article! We have 4 hens about 8 months old and 1 has stopped laying about a week now all other hens are still regularly laying still. I was wondering what feed you do recommend because that is something we have changed in the last month. I have 5 chickens that are 5 months old now. A couple days went by and I noticed she had something hanging from her bum.

As I go to see what it is and help her it fell to the ground. It was a deflated egg just empty. She eats and drinks and acts totally normal. No change in their diet or anything new or different beside shorter daylight. Any ideas as to what could be wrong with my girl? I dont want to be missing a sickness and lose her.

She is at the top of the pecking order and keeps the other girls safe and in line. Hi Thai chicken farmer here. I have issa browns at 30 weeks old. They get crushed oyster and grit separate from there food at all times and are on water nipples. Nearly lost her. Been about 3 days now. Should I be worried.

I av chickens in my cage. We have posts in the ground to darken their laying area. Should we take the posts out? They would be getting morning light. I bought 2 brahma hens to my flock about a month ago. Their previous owner said they are 2 years old and they layed eggs often at him. I already had other 2, one year old hens in my garden, they are not very friendly to them, and after 1 month of waiting, my new hens are still have not lay eggs.

How long does it take for them to start laying again? I also noticed that 2 days later when i bought these 2, one of them has leg mite i think. I used neostomosan on their leggs two times with 10 days difference, but have not see any change yet. Any advice? Thanks, Adry. Update One of my new hens layed an egg yesterday, but she broke it before i could collect it. I have 21 hens and no roosters. Nothing has changed but I introduced 4 new birds last november from a neighboring coop of mine.

Shortly after they molted and stopped laying around late November. I used no artificial light over winter nor do I now. I still am getting no eggs. Please help. Do I need to increase daylight? We have 6 hens, all under 2 years old. All have layed well and for some reason, after moulting, only one hen began laying again. Mine range between less than. Hi, I have a bluebell which I got on point of lay about 18 months ago.

Their run is light and airy. Have access to fresh water, get fed on layers pellets, mixed corn and fresh veg daily. Have treats like mealworm and tinned sardines about twice a week. There is no sign of any illness. Can you help please with ideas to stop this. I see that this is an often asked question. Why are my girls not laying? We have 8 Buff Orpingtons, all just turned 2 years. We do have a light on a timer, and used it all winter.

No one messes with his girls! They were having thin shells and sometimes no shells, so we ground up even finer,the oyster shell pellets that seem to big for them to want.

They have the cleanest, safest coop, always water, lots of love and I sing them to sleep every night Goodnight Irene But… alas… eggs are rare. I recently bought two chickens. Was told they are laying and of 20 weeks. One lays every morning but the other has not laid a single egg since the 6 weeks I have had her. She free ranges all day from 9 am till bed time which is at 8 pm.

Fed layers pellets. So my 3 year old silver laced wyandotte has all of sudden stopped laying. She is free range during the day and in the coop at night. She is not broody, has plenty of fresh food and water. Feeding her high protein layer crumble.

She is not molting and her combs are a nice red color. Her vent, feathers, her poop look fine. No sign of threat from predators. So i dont know why she isnt laying but would like some input.

Same environment, same food pretty much the same everything. She appears very healthy. Anybody have any ideas? My Australorp she is roughly about 8 yrs old she is a back yard hen about a month ago she stopped laying is that because of her age?

Its ok if she has cause she is our mama hen but I was just wondering. I have 5 chickens, all a little over 2 years old. Very rarely will I get any eggs at all! They eat Purina Layena plus Omega 3.

Its July here so they are getting plenty of light, no predators, no sickness, no stressers. It has been over 6 months since the easter eggers laid! One silver laced wyandott will give me about 3 eggs a week, nothing from anyone else!

Did they opt for early retirement and figure the new one will pick up their slack? My hen suffered a shock on Sat. The coop was attacked by bees. In order to get them out of danger we brought them inside in a dog crate. The other 3 were fine with the move, but my Barred Rock was definitely in shock.

She seems perfectly fine now, but has not laid an egg since Sat morning. Could her lack of eggs be because of the shock she suffered on Sat? Good evening all, hope you are well. Thanks in advance. I have 9 hens, Orpington cross, and one cockerel. I have had them from birth 2 years ago. I had 7 eggs one day but normally I have between 1 and 3 eggs a day.

They are in a very large enclosure and sometimes free range in the garden. They have layers pellets and sometimes vine leaves and cabbage leaves but not every day. They appear happy. What is the problem with the laying? Half buff orpington, half auracana. For the last 3 weeks ZERO eggs. Half of these girls are pullets and we changed their feed from grower to adult layer pellets, which I attribute to the change in egg production. But they laid eggs the hens, not pullets of course on this exact layer pellet feed before we switched to the grower feed.

What is the scoop? I have 8 hens, they all look very similar. Any ideas on how to identify which are the good layers? I had a young blue Australorp chicken stop laying eggs. She had become egg-bound. Unfortunately she perished. But a necropsy showed she had a completely formed egg, 2 eggs with membranes and a broken yolk and several intact yolks. She developed a cough.

We think what happened was that one day she was kept from her nesting box, and the Brahma hens kept chasing her out when they saw her nesting. We have since rehomed the Brahmas and are in the process of increasing our flock with different breeds than Brahmas and getting a couple more blue Australorps.

My layers stopped laying after treating them with antibiotics for 7days,there was weight loss, and eating patterns changes…. I have 7 chickens of different breads 2 bantam that have been doing wonderful. I recently got 5 new chicks and have slowly been introducing them to the flock. My bantams have recently stopped laying and started to spend all day and night next to each other laying on others eggs together and one is very territorial. What can I do to help with the transition and make my flock happy again.

I have a question on egg size? On page two is a chart that shows , What determines egg weight. For diet watchers me I weigh some of my eggs on a scale to see how many ounces my eggs weighed and they sure did not come near those ounces on your chart. Am I being to picky? I have 7 chickens. I got 3 one week and the other 4 the next week so around the beginning of April. I have been getting 1 or 2 eggs for about 3 weeks from the original 3.

Not sure why the other 4 are not laying. Can you give some advice as I have never had chickens before? We have 7 Hans and 1 rooster. Rooster is silky breeds and one silky Han. Rest are regular Hans. All these are age of 1 and half years. Your email address will not be published. Skip to content Search. Their Diet The most common reason why your chickens have stopped laying is there is something wrong with their diet. Purina Layena Nutritionally Complete Layer Hen Feed Crumbles 25 Pound 25 lb Bag Rich yellow yolks - A high level of xanthophyll, a coloring agent derived from marigolds, produces deep yellow egg yolks Calcium Manganese and Trace Minerals - For strong shells Essential Amino Acids - Enhanced with lysine and methionine to give birds the nutrients they need to produce plenty of wholesome and delicious eggs; Also promotes beautiful feathering Key Levels of Vitamin A, D, E - Strong reproduction and overall health, with a high level of Vitamin A to help birds grow into healthy adult birds Prebiotics, Probiotics and Yeast - Supports immune and digestive health.

Share this: Twitter Facebook. Mealworms vs Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Related Posts. Colored Eggs: Why, How, and Who? Nov 9, Hen Eating Their Own Eggs. How Do I Stop Them? Could be a predator like a snake in the hen house.