My Hen is not-a-laying

[allthecees]

One of my two hens has stopped laying eggs. I got her in April last year at point of lay and she laid an egg almost every day until January this year when she just stopped. I have had about four eggs from her since January minus shells but just a rather unattractive membrane thingy. On April 9th she laid a normal egg. She is fed on layers pellets and free ranges under supervision. I added oyster shell to her diet about a month ago. Any suggestions of what else I can do for her or do you think she is all egged out!

[Martin]

panic not - a hen can go on laying for years (6 or 7), but they "need a rest" every once in a while - they'll go off lay for a while, have a good moult into the bargain, then recommence laying.
That's the main reason why commercial flocks are run for one season only - it's just too expensive to keep feeding them during the "break"
The only thing to watch for is "broodiness" - if she starts parking her bum a lot, and making unusual noises, she could be going broody, and once one goes, the whole flock can follow suit...... my method was to grab the bird (gently) when found in "broody mode" either side, and gently propel them upwards in a clear space - they have to spread their wings and flutter down to the ground - sometimes it can "snap them out of it".
If all else fails with a broody, give her a comfy box on her own with some straw in, grab some fertile eggs.......... 8)
My advice about layers pellets is to be VERY picky - if you can find organic, go for it, otherwise try to avoid the "typical" pellet containing a cocktail of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and some pretty evil colouring matter - the details should be on the ticket on the sack. Beware the word "natural" on the labels, I had a battle royal with a feed company who tried to sell me feed containing what they claimed was a natural colourant.......according to the law, they can claim that substances synthesised in a laboratory can be claimed to be "natural" if they are a reasonable approximation of a naturally occuring substance........which sure as hell isn't my definition!
Bit of grit may help - do make sure they get some fresh ground to range
over - picked bare pens are just a source of disease!

[allthecees]

Thanks for the advice Martin. The layers pellets are meant to be organic but I will check out the label for any 'nasties'. I move the run every few days to a new patch of grass to avoid any disease build up on the ground. How shocking that a company can claim that a product is natural when it is synthesised in a laboratory!

[Stonehead]

Further to Martin's response, hens can also stop laying due to stress. Most of the usual causes of stress are down to intensive practices, but hens can also become stressed due to their position in the pecking order, an over-enthusiastic cockerel that's always after one particular hen, changes in their environment, changes in their diet and low-flying aircraft (we get RAF Tornadoes, Typhoons, Sea Kings, etc). You can also get a hen that's just highly strung.

In some cases you can remove the cause of the stress but in others you have to remove or cull the bird. If you're keeping the bird (whether by removing the source of the stress or removing the bird), I find it worthwhile to add an organic vitamin supplement to their food or water for a few days, as well as upping their intake of greens with things like cabbage/lettuce leaves, dandelions, nettles, comfrey etc.

If they have a selection of plants, not just grass, most chickens are quite good at self-medicating.

Hope this helps,

Stonehead

PS And if you don't think some chickens can be high strung, you should see the four from my most recent hatching. They come from a new line to us and from the moment they hatched, they've been flighty, twitchy, manic and generally deranged. If Scots Greys weren't in short supply I'd cull all of them, but I'll have to breed from the best ones and then try to breed out the nervous disposition over time.

[allthecees]

Thanks for the advice Stonehead. I only have two pet chickens and one doesn't appear to be more dominant than the other. They have access to many of my garden plants and are partial to the heather's and hardy geranium leaves. They tend to ignore the dandelions and nettles! We don't have low flying aircraft and she doesn't seem to be highly strung, in fact she is rather placid! There is one thing that makes me highly strung though and that is the presence of urban foxes. I cannot leave my chickens out unattended to freerange alone because of this reason. I have recently spotted foxes in my small garden at 9.15am, 1.00pm, 3.00pm and hear and see them at night running up and down the street. Maybe the sight of a fox is enough to stop her laying!

[Wombat]

G'Day Guys,

I have also read that including a bit of chili in the feed can stimulate egg production. I tried it once and it appeared to work.

Nev

[The Chili Monster]

Wombat wrote:

I have also read that including a bit of chili in the feed can stimulate egg production. I tried it once and it appeared to work.

Read about it here:

http://www.epcc.edu/ftp/Homes/monicaw/b ... pepper.htm

Can't say if it works, though - no chooks to try it on.