Hens stopped laying, is this due to move?

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Chickenbrain2009

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Hi,
I suspect I may have guessed the answer to this question but would welcome peoples opinion to make sure I am not making assumptions.
I have recently introduced several new birds to my flock, and removed the dominant hen because she was bullying the newcomers. A cockeral has also been added. I have in effect a new flock.

Some of the newbies are too young to lay, but the ones that were old enough laid for a day or two and then stopped. This includes both the newcomers and the resident hens. At the moment it has only been a couple of days but I was wondering re the cause.
I have given them poultry spice and cider vinegar since they have arrived.
The coop is a converted woodshed which until ten days ago had never seen a chicken, so i would have thought it was too soon for red mite to build up sufficiently to stop them laying. :-)19 Do I assume its the stress of the change and they will get back into gear fairly soon?
Its rather frustrating!

Thanks

Pam
 
Hi Pam - I would say it was definitely the uproar in the flock that is causing them not to lay. I've found in the past, that it takes about 10 days to 2 weeks for it to settle down and for the birds to come back into lay.

Good luck with your 'new' flock! :)
 
I echo Philcott Pam. Any changes which cause stress will stop them laying. They won't lay until they are happy in a secure environment. The happier they are the better they lay.
 
chrismahon said:
The happier they are the better they lay.
Click to expand...


Please tell that to my very large, greedy and non-laying Barnebars! They're well happy and not an egg in sight bar one or two from three of them per week! :roll:
 
Well there's happy and too fat Philcott. Sounds like they are the latter as well as the former. Lewis Wright goes on about fat chickens and how useless they are at great length. Appears that the fat builds up around the ovaduct leaving no room for the eggs to get through.
 
Well, that doesn't account for my non-laying, 18-month-old Amber Star hybrid, not fat, who is on the same pellets-and-grass-and-no-treats regime and diet as the other three, who are all laying daily. In her case, her comb has grown very large and her stance is much more upright than it used to be. She still crouches and speads her wings when I touch her back, and hasn't grown spurs, but is top hen and seems to be taking on enough male hormones to prevent her laying. It's a bit like having a cockerel that doesn't crow. I have read that sometimes in an all-female flock, the top hen will be affected by extra male hormones. She used to lay OK last summer in her first year. I'm keeping her for now as she's best friends with the other hybrid and shes no trouble and exuding health, and i don't want to disrupt the flock dynamics until I want to get a couple of new ones. But after 5 months with no eggs I'm not hopeful!
 
chrismahon said:
Well there's happy and too fat Philcott. Sounds like they are the latter as well as the former. Lewis Wright goes on about fat chickens and how useless they are at great length. Appears that the fat builds up around the ovaduct leaving no room for the eggs to get through.
Click to expand...

:D You're right there is a difference between happy and fat! But sadly, they are not fat, their keel bones are easily felt and they are not over heavy when picked up. I will give them a dose of wormer and see if that helps! I don't think they've been done since late last year, and as there are a few other pens that need doing, will do them at the same time.
 
Could be that it's the extra hormones that made her top hen in the first place Marigold. They can occur if there is damage to the ovary, which would prevent her laying anyway. Still I'm sure she keeps the others in good order.
 
:( still no sign of any eggs apart from one yesterday.......my ex top hen has been laying away in her new home...................Ive been giving them cider vinegar, poultry spice and a few treats to cheer them up.............................I am really pissed off :-)06
 
I'd just stick to the pellets and give them access to grass for a couple of hours a day if you can, and leave off the treats and other extras. Adding vitamins, ACV etc isn't necessary, just a waste of money for healthy hens on a normal diet of good-quality pellets, and won't be magic bullets to make them lay. My hens dislike the taste of ACV even at a very low concentration, so yours may drink more if just given plain clean water- and water intake is important for laying hens. Patience is difficult, I know, but those eggs will be all the more wonderful when they do come!
 
I share Marigold's scepticism for ACV. They don't like drinking it, I question whether there really are much in the way of nutrients and vitamins in it and unless mixed into unpaletable strength it has no credible effect on worms. It's £9 plus a bottle as well! We'll use up what we have at 1% concentration once a month and won't be buying any more.
 
I have no enthusiasm for Cider Vinegar either. I used it and not used it and never seen any discernable difference so I don't throw money away. However, CV from an agricultural merchants is around £10 for 5 litres (could have gone up a lot since I used it last though) ! It should never be relied upon as a wormer unless it has proved to be effective by worm count. It would be very rare to find commercial breeders/rearers who use it. Add to that garlic and many of the potions designed to tempt people into parting with their money.
 
Clinical tests have shown that at 3% concentration ACV effectively controls Coccidiosis in flocks. How on earth do they get them to drink it in that high a concentration ??!! Ours walk away at 2% and prefer to go thirsty.
 
Well, the barnevelder is laying, and the maran and the bovan nera :-)08 , the only one who adamantly refuses to lay is the Poland :-)06 . Its very galling, she was laying an egg a day till she came here! Its well over a three weeks now, I have just hatched the only egg she has laid since she has been here!
 
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