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Saijen SilverWolf1
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Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
We have no clue what's up, but for quite a few months now, our hens have not laid any eggs. We've given them laying pellets, and done other things, but so far, nothing.
I have to wonder if it's because our 2 roosters tend to fight each other. We had them separated.....DH put a fence down the center of the chicken yard and divided the coop, and the more aggressive rooster still tried to fight through the fence. We gave each rooster 3 hens, and still nothing. They all ended up figuring out how to get to each other's side, so we just took the fence down. We may have to get rid of one of, or possibly both of, the roosters. I seriously miss those fresh eggs!!!! They were doing so well there for a while, then....nothing!
Texas.....have y'all had any problems like this, and if so, were you able to fix the problem?
--- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
~~@Saijen@~~
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1/7/2014, 11:37 pm
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muladzh
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Roosters have stopped hens laying before, so maybe that is why yours have given up. We need to get chickens.
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1/8/2014, 3:59 am
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Firlefanz
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Well, they may also take a break in winter. But yes, try removing at least one rooster. They may upset the hens.
Best of luck!
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1/8/2014, 9:03 am
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Saijen SilverWolf1
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
The hens had stopped laying long before Winter ever set it. I do think either removing one or both of the rooster may be what has to happen. Hens don't like conflict like that...so...who knows!
Thanks for the suggestions!
--- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
~~@Saijen@~~
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1/9/2014, 7:50 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf1
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Well....someone decided to lay one egg the other day. Not sure which of the hens it was, but think it was our Wyandotte, Charlotte. One egg in 6-7 months!!!! NOT good!!!
--- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
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2/2/2014, 6:30 am
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Firlefanz
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Did you ever get around to moving one of the roosters?
Congrats on the egg, though.
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2/2/2014, 12:55 pm
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TexasMadness
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Ah, I just read this thread! Yes, moving hens, winter and too many roosters can all give laying hens fits. Since you had all three, I don't wonder something was up. But still, seems pretty extreme to have NONE all that time. How old where they when you got them? Some breeds don't start laying until 5-6 months and will skip the first winter if they don't mature in time. This MIGHT have been the case.
Glad you finally got one though!
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2/2/2014, 8:06 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf1
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
Texas....the hens were all grown when we got them back in the summer, and they all laid really well to begin with....then, we had to separate the roosters so we gave 3 hens to each rooster. We lost a hen...not sure how/why, then one rooster found his way back to the other side.....the hens had all stopped laying before we separated everyone. We separated them hoping that would put the hens more at ease since the roosters weren't fighting all the time.....and nothing happened. We've not had eggs since probably August or September....and none since that one the other day.
--- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
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2/5/2014, 6:30 am
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Firlefanz
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
I suppose that just shows the hens are not comfortable and not feeling safe ... emotional critters, aren't they? Of course, they usually lay less in winter, too.
Hope you can figure out how to entice them to laying eggs again.
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2/5/2014, 11:05 am
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TexasMadness
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Re: Egg, egg..where are you, egg?????
That is pretty early to stop laying for the winter. It's usually closer to the equinox, if not Samhain when the light truly begins to wane.
Are the hens heavily "treaded"? Depending on breed and temperament, a rooster will be happy with about a dozen hens. More and he won't fertilize all the eggs, but that's no matter to you. Less and he will be a bit too amorous with them all. Sometimes you will even end up with a treaded hen even if you have tons and tons just because she is the roosters favorite. Treading marks are on the back of the hen - sometimes just loss of feathers but sometimes, raw sore skin. Any hen that has been treaded too much is likely to not lay. If most/all of your hens have damage to their feathers on their back it might just be too many roosters to the hens.
As Firle said, they can be pretty emotional. If you have a predator harassing them every night (skunk, raccoon, etc just rattling the coop), it can freak them out. Again, seems unlikely that it would be a complete lack of eggs...
Hmm, what else?
Nutrition an play a big role. Again, it surprises me that ALL the hens are not laying. You said you tried laying pellets - that's good. They need a high protein feed like that. Also, they need calcium. Do you have any oyster shells or such for them to eat? This usually causes thin shells before stopping laying but stress plus little calcium may have been enough for it to happen quickly.
The last thing I can think of is that you have an egg eater. But it seems like you would have noticed some residue. They can be surprisingly clean when eating their own eggs but over such a long period of time, surely you would have come across some yolk smears.
I wish you luck!
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2/6/2014, 4:32 pm
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