AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hello,
I have been keeping chickens for over 10 years now and have never come across this mystery. I have six chickens all up, one silky hen and one silky rooster, and four isa brown hens. I dont expect my silkie hen to lay as I have researched and it is not too uncommon for their breed. This is my first time keeping a rooster long term. The four isa browns we got when they were POL so now the would be close to 30 weeks. At the start, we got two or three eggs from the lot of them then it stopped.

It could not be my darling rooster because they give him and his girlfriend a very hard time. Does anyone know what is wrong? Today I have started letting them out in the garden and they have very high quality feed. I am completely baffled by this.

Thank you in advance, henlover.

NOTES: I obtained the isa browns from a very reliable source that I have been using for all of my chickens and I have reason to believe that they were laying there fine. They are also settling in very well, they are just finding the pecking order with the silkies. Thanks

First of all are they moulting? It is the right time of year for them to be. When chooks are moulting you can expect egg laying to cut right down or cease. You may be looking at a few weeks before they begin again. Its not really anything to do with roosters being in the flock except if the hens are going broody which I feel unlikely due to their young age.

maybe you have an egg thief , goanna or something else that is pinching them before you get a chance to get them , or could they have a secret corner somewhere they could be laying them that you have not discovered yet .

johno

Hi Henlover

I too have 4 Isa Browns & I have found that my girls go off the lay if I don't stick to their normal routine. Have you change the pattern of how/when you do things?

My girls love their routine & as a result I get 4 eggs everyday at almost the same time everyday. My girls sound like they are about the same age of yours and was told that due to their age that they may not moult this time round & so far no feathers have been coming off (yet). My Plymouth Rock however, seems to be on a feather losing expedition to be the baldest chicken in the universe.

Not sure if the routine suggestion was any help, but that could be another possibility on top of what Sebducks suggested.

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

All 5 of mine just stoped giving eggs for 3 months then just as sudden they started again, funny things

Chooks are very sensitive creatures, anything including the introduction of a different looking rooster and his partner can upset their balance and equilibrium and put them off lay. People under estimate a chook's intelligence and their emotions.

Who came first the Isa Browns or the Silky couple? The answer may lay there, pecking order, or your girls just don't like male company, or even fight over him!

Any small thing can put a chook off lay or as suggested there is an egg thief or they are hiding their eggs!

When I move the tractor the girls go off the lay for 2 days so now I am only moving it every 3 weeks so I get enough eggs to last when they stop

Thank you for all your helpful replies. The silkies were there before. I do think that it all needed getting used to and now the isa browns are all starting to lay. Thanks again.

Is it possible to get dud hens?

If you mean some that never lay eggs YES I have had 2 out of 24 that never laid a single egg in 2 years but I liked them so they stayed