My Cinnamon Queens Aren't Laying Eggs

[henfran]

Hello, this is my first post and first time taking care of chickens. I have 4 Cinnamon Queens and they're great, but not laying any eggs. they're between 7-10 months old and I feed them crumble (with oyster shells mixed in), 4 tablespoons of Omega 3 every day, and a snack (oatmeal, yogurt, greens). I've had them for almost 3 weeks and still no eggs, bummer. The weather hasn't been the best, only a couple cold days/nights. They seem happy roaming the backyard all day and know where to go at night-sleeping in their nesting boxes or roost. I've put a hard boiled egg in each box so they know where to lay. I've read that it takes time for them to get comfortable enough in their coop to lay, but shouldn't 3 weeks be enough?

I'd appreciate any help/guidance considering i'm new to all this.

thank you,
Henry

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It depends. Stress prevents ovulation. When they get settled, they'll lay.

Don't mix oyster shell with feed. It needs to be in a separate container so they can choose how much they need. Adding it to feed could be excessive and cause kidney problems and calcification of other organs and joints.
A bird not producing an egg shell doesn't need extra calcium. Forcing them to eat more when not building shells can be a problem.

 

[aart]

What kind of crumble?
Look at nutritional tag sewn into bottom of bag.....look at protein percentage.

 

[Gray Farms]

It can take some time for them to settle in and start laying again. 3 weeks is kind of the low end of the scale. It usually takes 1-3 months.

 

[coloradowildflower]

I'm with Gray Farms. I would expect them to take longer to acclimate and settle in, especially since they are not very old yet and probably hadn't established their laying pattern very solidly yet before they moved. Sounds like you are doing great things to make them happy and comfortable. They'll start up soon, I'll bet.

 

[donrae]

Can you post some pics of them?

have you gone on an egg hunt in the yard, or tried confining them to the coop? Hens don't always know they're "supposed" to lay in the nice nest boxes we make for them. They pick places that make sense to them, hidden, dark, quiet out of the way places.

 

[coloradowildflower]

Great point, donrae! In fact, it reminds me that our Cinnamon Queen that came to live with us at about 6 months old didn't seem to be laying and we finally found a super secret hidden nest behind the coop where she was laying. . .

 

[PoopCoopMama89]

Hello, this is my first post and first time taking care of chickens. I have 4 Cinnamon Queens and they're great, but not laying any eggs. they're between 7-10 months old and I feed them crumble (with oyster shells mixed in), 4 tablespoons of Omega 3 every day, and a snack (oatmeal, yogurt, greens). I've had them for almost 3 weeks and still no eggs, bummer. The weather hasn't been the best, only a couple cold days/nights. They seem happy roaming the backyard all day and know where to go at night-sleeping in their nesting boxes or roost. I've put a hard boiled egg in each box so they know where to lay. I've read that it takes time for them to get comfortable enough in their coop to lay, but shouldn't 3 weeks be enough?

I'd appreciate any help/guidance considering i'm new to all this.

thank you,
Henry

A new environment is a lot on a full grown hen that has already started laying somewhere else, try hanging out with the girls they are very sociable and they dont peck out of aggression they try to get your attention and its adorable. I have 6 CQs myself and they are awesome but not laying yet but are housed with a hen that is laying already and I get all of my chickens as babies so I can bond and with them and socialize them with the rest of my family and animals. CQs are very social, go in the coop and roost with them my girls will roost right up next to me I even got my Golden Laced Wyandotte so comfortable she laid in front of me yesterday. You can also try curtains if you havent already I had to put curtains up for my one layer to even use the nesting box they like small comfortable warm places to lay their eggs so maybe you could try that. I also dont use oyster shells, I use chicken egg shells, olive oil and herbs. I do not mix any of these together they are all administered differently. I crush up the shells as soon as I use the egg and mix in black pepper or crushed red pepper and a little salt and give it to them immediately and take it away at the end of the day so bacteria doesnt grow and my chickens get sick so what they dont eat that day is trash. If my layer gets a little egg shy and its been a few days since she laid and her butt looks extra fat I kneel down and pet her while using a baby syringe to put olive oil on her beak and when she laps up what Ive put on her beak I repeat that 3 times to make sure she gets a few drops thats all it takes and within 2 hours I have an egg. The herbs help relax the girls and they love it, I mix up several chicken safe herbs and sprinkle it around the coop, especially in the nesting boxes and even sprinkle a little in their food. I hope any of this is helpful for you, good luck .

 

[EuroChook]

The heat also affects egg production. 75 and lower is perfect egg weather.