Not laying due to trauma?

[Jode82]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping for some help. We recently moved to a house where we 'inherited' 3 chickens from the previous tenants (who we kind of knew because we've moved next door to family). So we don't have any real knowledge about chickens - other than looking after the same chickens for a week of holiday - but thought it would be fun and good to have fresh eggs etc.

Since we moved in less than a month ago, our dog has already jumped into their run 3 times now. She has taken a chunk out of one of the chickens so we had to put her down; she has also attacked the remaining two twice more and seems to have her sights set on the smaller of the two. We try to keep her out of that part of the garden, but with a toddler and a newborn it's really hard work. Now she has a taste for them she's just desperate to get back at them.

Anyway, my girls now don't seem to be laying and I'm wondering if this could be shock or trauma? I figure my chances of rehoming them if they're not laying is pretty much nil and I don't think I can bear putting them down. It could also be age, I believe they're about 3 and we've had problems with very thin shells so trying poultry grit but doesn't seem to have sorted the problem yet (3 weeks in).

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Jode82 and welcome to the forum. Without a secure run your chickens stand little chance of survival it would seem. They won't lay when stressed, so you have no chance of eggs. They may be old but given chance may still lay good eggs. I think you need to rehome them if you can't keep them stress free.

Better still, why not rehome the dog. Saves a load of mess and money too.

 

[Chuck]

Living in fear can certainly put them off lay and even if they are too old to lay, they need a calm, settled environment if you are going to keep them. Your dog may not change.

 

[Jode82]

Chrismahon, have you been speaking with my husband?! It's a no-brainer I'm afraid, we've had the dog for 5 years and the chickens only 4 weeks. Its strange, she's never been like this although she seems to has a thing about feather dusters and has brought dead birds in for us before but nothing she's ever killed. We're definitely going to rehome the chickens, it's the only thing to do but I didn't want to advertise them as laying if there's a chance they're not. Just need to find them a good home.

And unfortunately the hens live in a converted shed with a homemade run made by the original owners and its a bit ramshackle. I noticed this morning that it looks like something has tried to burrow its way into the shed so I think the sooner we move them the better. Thank you for your help.

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi Jode82.
If you say on the board where you are, someone near you might rehome the hens for you. I can understand that your loyalty would be to the dog rather than the hens if you've had it for so long.
I don't know much about dogs but am nervous for your newborn & toddler from what you've said though. Are dog training classes a possible option to make sure that your children are safe?

 

[Jode82]

Thank you Icemaiden, we're near Tonbridge in Kent, I'll put up a post an see if anyone wants to rescue them. And thank you for your concern about my two boys, although Pepper only seems interested in the feathers, she's not really interested in other animals or anything like that. Or maybe it's because they're caged so it makes them more interesting. But anyway, I don't leave my children unsupervised with any of our pets so it shouldn't ever be a problem.

 

[Marigold]

I think you're doing very well and are very kind, to take on these unwanted birds at a time when you have so much in your hands with young children, dog and new house. Of course you wouldn't even consider getting rid of the dog, he was only doing what was natural in the face of what he considers to be an exciting new toy. However, I expect you're now realising there's more to keeping chickens than just feeding at one end, and collecting eggs at the other, and if these birds were living in inadequate unsafe accommodation and were just given away like fixtures and fittings that came with the house, its more than likely that they have not been looked after properly for a long time. Their coop may be infested with redmite, they may have other parasites, and its unlikely that their worming programme is up to date, even supposing they have actually ever been wormed. All of these things will affect their ability to lay, and the hot weather won't help either. Also, you don't say how old they are - after 2-3 years, hens can go on as non-laying 'pensioners' for some time, even producing an occasional egg, but most of them are not going to be productive at that age. Some breeds are not good layers anyway, being bred for appearance rather than utility, and as you don't say what breeds yours are, this may possibly be a factor also. So yes, the dog's enthusiasm for feather games hasn't helped, but I don't think you should beat yourself up about what has happened, there are lots of other possible reasons why these girls are not laying.
So it think you are right to make a brief effort to rehome these hens, since they were not of your choosing, and your life sounds very full and busy at present. Maybe in time you might like to do it properly, build a secure run, get a good coop, and start off with some nice young pullets that will lay all the eggs you need and be very rewarding to keep. And if you can't rehome them, then sad though it may be, don't feel bad about having them culled - there may even be someone on the Forum nearby to you who could help with this, or you can take them to the vet for a painless injection. I don't think it would be a very good introduction to chicken keeping for you to have hens that were a constant worry in case they were attacked, and basically, they were not your problem in the first place, were they?