Yesterday I received an email from a friend who needed some advice about backyard chickens. Here is his email (with permission).
Hi Gavin.
Need some advice / help if I could.
Our Chickens are still off the lay. Got the food you recommended (high protein) , shell grit, plenty of water / sun / space etc, still no laying, and it’s driving me nuts! They’re only a year and a half odd old too.
They’re Isa Browns. Happy for any advice from anyone at this point! Feel free to post question on the blog.
Thanks,
Simon.
Can anyone offer Simon some advice? I am fresh out of ideas, and have never come across this problem before.
Gav
Perhaps chicken mites? If the mites are bad enough, it will significantly reduce production.
Hi Gavin and Simon,
How old are the chickens? Are they about to moult? How many hours of sunlight are they getting a day? Are there any other stressors that might be affecting them? (mites, dustbath availability, water, new members of the flock, dog/cats next door…?) Are there any strange behavours that you’ve noticed?
From the look of their combs the one standing might be laying but it’s hard to tell. If one of them is laying then one or both might be eating the eggs. Alternatively, you may have rats, snakes or lizards stealing the eggs.
You should also look around the garden, if they’re free ranging, as they may have found a secluded spot they like better than the nest you have provided. I once found a hidden spot in the blackberries that had a huge number of eggs which solved the mystery of the suddenly low egg production at our place a while ago.
My first reaction on reading the email was – they must be about to moult. They’re the right age. But Michael has a good point – if they’re free ranging, they might well be laying in a nice hidden spot (their favourite). Also rats and snakes are infamous for egg stealing without leaving any signs. I don’t have any experience with snakes (thankfully), but it’s definitely so with rats. I’m inclined not to say mites or lice from the picture as they look pretty good, and chickens with mite issues oftene pick feathers around the vent, but it’s easy to check. Pick them up at night, turn them over to look at the vent area, and shine a strong flashlight on the vent – if things scurry away, you know what the issue is. You do it at night because the mites/lice hide from the light during the day.
A friend of mine has crows stealing her eggs at the moment, listen for egg laying noises?
Ditto to everyone else… If in the northern hemisphere it could be that they are going into a moult; if here in Australia it’s not likely.
Mites and lice will affect the health of a chook if they get a hold so that definitely has to be checked (and yes, I also do this at night). Snakes, rats, lizards, goannas – all eat eggs, but so do chooks. Are there ANY eggs being laid at all and, if so, are they sticky, any broken bits of shell? That would indicate to me a chook or chooks is eating the eggs. I find it almost impossible with the number of chooks I have to determine the culprit so very regular egg collection is the key – several times a day.
And ditto on the free ranging —> secret nest idea. I blogged the other day about finding THREE hidden nests behind some machinery. If he finds that is the case, they will need to be locked up in their pen for a few days until they’re used to laying in the nests he has provided for them.
This is coming into prime laying time so I’d be thinking lice/mite and/or secret stash of eggs.
I agree that perhaps they’ve started laying in a secret spot somewhere – this has happened to me too. I haven’t had any problems with eggs being stolen, but that is completely possible also. I’m just going to put it out there that some of our ISA browns / Hyline browns stopped laying about 2 years in and that was that – no more. We gave them about another year to “show us the money” but in the end a flock refresh was the only thing for us. They are really wonderful chooks and we replaced our ageing flock with more of the same but the short productive lifespan is a downside.
It is still early Spring there? My gals take a little while to fire back up after the sun returns.
As others have said, they could be broody and laying a secret clutch somewhere. Have they laid any eggs at all yet this season?
I agree with the others above.
If none of that pans out, and they’re really not laying, I’d suggest chicken soup followed by a flock refresh. I highly recommend getting something more traditional – Australorps are very good, but there are many other egg-laying breeds to choose from as well.
ISA Browns are about the bottom of my list for backyard flocks :-).
Thanks everyone for the big list of suggestions. I am sure that Simon has something to work with now. I will pass them all on to him.
Cheers Gav