Why are my 9-month-old hens not laying?!

[NatJ]

I have 20 hens, 8 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Silver Laced Sussex, 2 Isa Browns, 4 Ameraucanas, and one mystery hen. They all are 9 months old. I have lights in the coop and a few months ago, one hen started laying. Then three days later we had a cold snap and she stopped laying. I have not got an egg from any of my hens since. I am feeding them Scratch and Peck layer feed which I ferment. I rotate through 3 containers and do a batch in each; they ferment 3 days before I feed them to the chickens. I thought they were not getting enough food (at the time I was feeding them 1/4 cup per bird a day) so, last month I upped their food a little. As they still didn't lay, I upped it even more a few days ago. Now I ferment 4 cups per batch which doubles to 8 cups (just under 1/2 cup per bird). Recently I started feeding half of it to them in the morning the rest in the evening. They always eat all available food at a feeding.

My guess: they are probably not getting enough food.

A common estimate is 1/4 pound of dry feed, per bird, per day for standard sized laying hens, in addition to as much water as they want to drink.

That would mean 20 hens eat a 40 pound bag of feed every 8 days. Or they eat a 50 pound bag every 10 days. What size bag do you usually buy, and how long does it last?

When people measure and weigh dry feed, they usually find that 1/4 pound of dry feed is between 1/2 cup and 1 cup, depending on the brand. That would mean 20 chickens need between 10 cups and 20 cups of dry feed per day, not the 4 cups of dry feed you are using. Your chickens are probably starving (literally), and that is why they are not laying.

Water is not a substitute for food. Measuring the amount of food after you add water, then comparing to someone else's dry measurement, is going to cause trouble (whether you are using cups or pounds, the problem is the same either way: water makes the food bigger and heavier, but does not add any more nutrition.)

 

[chicken mama 0908]

If they're eating all those food when you feed them they might not be getting enough and are stressed. Can you give them kitchen scraps in between?

I am feeding my hens scraps. Usually, they get some every day.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

Will this solve my problem?

• up their feed to 1/2 cup per hen per day (in all 10 cups)
• switch back to grower feed and give them free access to oyster shells?

Also, we are going to extend the chicken yard to include an orchard this summer, but at the moment they don't free range.

 

[Australorpfamily]

Will this solve my problem?

• up their feed to 1/2 cup per hen per day
• switch back to grower feed and give them free access to oyster shells?

Also, we are going to extend the chicken yard to include an orchard this summer, but at the moment they don't free range.

I free choice feed our 22 hens and they go through maybe a 50# bag of dumor chick start and grower feed a week. Our location it was 20$ a bag, but we recently went to our mill and got 500#(not 150 lol) for 158. We do free choice oyster shells and have buckets of water for them too. (((Also my mill mixes it and can do a layer type feed with added protein, just ask if you have one close)))

I guess to me feeding two giant dogs feeding the girls is nothing on price.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

I free choice feed our 22 hens and they go through maybe a 50# bag of dumor chick start and grower feed a week. Our location it was 20$ a bag, but we recently went to our mill and got 150# for 158. We do free choice oyster shells and have buckets of water for them too. (((Also my mill mixes it and can do a layer type feed with added protein, just ask if you have one close)))

I guess to me feeding two giant dogs feeding the girls is nothing on price.

It costs a little around a dollar a pound for me. I have more trouble with costs as organic feed is pricier.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I don't quite understand...why not free-feed at the same time so you don't have to worry about it? Pans can help catch feed so it doesn't go to waste. Chicken feeds have all the nutrients chickens need in the right amounts. Feeding too many scraps and treats can mess up that balance.

 

[ChasingChooks]

You can keep a feeder of dry feed out 24/7, but still take out fermented feed once or twice a day. They will go through the dry feed slower. Hope they lay soon, and you can enjoy some awesome eggs!

 

[Australorpfamily]

It costs a little around a dollar a pound for me. I have more trouble with costs as organic feed is pricier.

I did fix my post, it was 500# from milk not 150 lol


Eta .. mill not milk autocorrect

 

[NatJ]

Will this solve my problem?

• up their feed to 1/2 cup per hen per day (in all 10 cups)
• switch back to grower feed and give them free access to oyster shells?

Also, we are going to extend the chicken yard to include an orchard this summer, but at the moment they don't free range.

It might solve the problem, but it might not be enough. If they have been underfed, they almost certainly need extra food to catch up to the body weight they should have.

Yes, upping the feed should help, and switching back to grower feed sounds like a good idea too. Yes, you are right that you should offer oyster shells free choice if they are on grower feed.

But I agree with the other people that suggest you offer them feed free-choice.

You certainly can continue to give them fermented feed at any rate you think it good, but if you ALSO provide free-choice pelleted feed, they can eat as much as they need. They will almost certainly prefer the fermented feed, so they will only eat the pellets if they actually need more to eat. Each chicken knows her own needs better than you do. Most chicken foods are designed to provide the right amount of nutrition if the chicken is allowed to eat as much as it wants. Chickens usually do very well on a free-choice feeding plan.

I suggest pellets rather than a mixed-grain feed to offer free-choice and dry, because that keeps them from picking out their favorite parts and wasting the rest. (For fermented feed, all the parts get wet and stick together, which also prevents the chickens picking through and wasting it, so there is no real benefit to pellets for the feed you are going to get it wet and ferment.)

 

[SmiYa0126]

A good way to check if your hens are getting enough is checking how full their crops are at night. They sound be nice and firm. If they feel loose then they're not getting enough.