why are'nt they laying?

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E3lx

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i have a trio of birds who were originally to be used as breeding chickens :D , but the hens have stopped laying :cry: . They are fed on layers pellet, have grit, and water, to which i add apple cider vinegar to every month for a week :) . any ideas why they wont lay...?
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How old are the hens? Have they laid regularly previously? Are they apparently active, alert and in good health? Are they starting to moult? It may be that they have come to the end of this period of lay and might be going to take a rest, moult, recover and get going again. Have either of them ever gone broody? Do you think they might be going broody now?

one more thing - are you absolutely sure there's no redmite in their coop? are they at all reluctant to go to roost there at night? If infested, the mites might be pulling them down as regards their health, and poor egglaying may well be the first sign of this.
 
It is an early moult for half of ours this year so they have stopped laying. First signs are a few primary flight feathers lying about. They shed neck feathers as well, but they usually get eaten, so you would have to check on the hens.
Two have stopped because of chronic red mite which has now been treated- they were looking droopy so I checked the coop very thoroughly this time. Could only see a few but on treatment there were thousands in there!!
 
Hi Marigold,
They are just over a year old, have laid well previously, no sign of losing feathers, alert and active. No red mite. They go to roost happily, the coop is dusted and disinfected regularly.
 
Sounds like they are just having a break, if they are healthy then this is perfectly natural.
Out of interest what breed are they? This will have a major bearing on the frequency of laying throughout the year.
 
We breed Wyandottes. Blue laced, which are surprisingly good layers. White Wyandottes are prolific layers as that is the original American utility strain. The breeding stock three year olds, which suffered from the red mite, have just started again after a one week break. Are yours just too old?
 
E3lx said:
Hi Marigold,
They are just over a year old, have laid well previously, no sign of losing feathers, alert and active. No red mite. They go to roost happily, the coop is dusted and disinfected regularly.
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Hi E31x. I take it you haven't just got these chicken, because they usually stop laying while they adjust. You also do not mention giving them oyster shell? They could have started eating their own eggs. In apparently healthy chicken with red combs(?) this is a likely scenario. If you have an egg eater in the group try to isolate them until you find the culprit.
 
That's a really good point Animartco. One egg eater could easily eat three eggs a day. I would expect to see some wet bedding in the nest box and bits of shell or membrane though. Have you seen any evidence of that E3lx?
 
I wouldn't worry, if you've just got them it's quite normal that they have gone off the lay - and if you haven't now is the time of year when birds do go off the lay and also it's quite likely that they start to moult as well - don't panic - there are all sorts of things it could be - but also all sorts of things it's unlikely to be - it's rare for birds to eat their own eggs - I've got over 300 birds at the moment of all sorts of breeds and have never had a bird eat it's own eggs - enjoy your birds and don't worry :D
 
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