The Poultry Keeper

cobelloy · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 3 Location: australia

Hi there, I have a dozen chooks and four roosters, and I get hardly any eggs, I originally had four big black "meat" birds that used to lay 2-4 eggs a day between them, and even continued to lay in winter, despite less than perfect conditions. When we moved to our new place they stopped laying more than a couple of eggs a week. We recieved six more young chooks, all cross bred from the same black ones and white layers, four of which turned out to be roosters, and still no more eggs, I then bought five ex-battery isa brown hens that were laying when they arrived but stopped after a week.

They have been locked in the pen, let out to roam (we live on a farm), and separated from the roosters and still we get hardly any eggs.

Now it is getting into autumn (in australia) and the shortening days are not helping me either.

here is a photo of the pen, it is approx 10 x 4 meters (1meter ~ 1yard)

they have water, layer pellets, food scraps, and I have just flea-dusted them too (the little battery hens very recently became covered with fleas)

and I have just spread a bale of hay out for them to scratch in while they are in the pen (for de-flea-ing)

What do I have to do to get them to lay, or even just breed me some new layers??

George · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London

Take out a roasting dish and show it to them, and tell them is they don't start laying soon, you'll roast them!
Doesn't work but it's good fun Wink

Birds do get a bit upset moving homes, and they will usually settle down again after a while.

Try adding ACV (apple cider vinegar) to their water as this may help.

Are you sure they aren't laying somewhere other than the nest boxes.?

cobelloy · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 3 Location: australia

already tried the roasting pan Smile

the move was about a year and a half ago, about the same time we got the second lot of chooks and the battery hens have also been here for probly about 3 months now too.

sometimes I lock them in the pen for a few days to see if they are laying or not. I have found eggs outside the pen, but never lots, and once I take them they don't lay in the same place again.

but I have some apple cider vinegar in the cupboard - how much should I use tho?

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Use the acv at 2% ~ 20mls to 1 litre of water, in a plastic drinker. Don't put it in the galvanised drinkers as it will corrode them.
If I were you, I would keep them in their house and pen for a while. It could be that they're laying outside somewhere on your land, rather than in nestboxes in their house. If you kept them in for say a week or so, you should be able to see if they are actually laying properly. And they might learn where they should be laying.
I used to keep my girls in their run until after lunch ~ that way they only had layers pellets to eat in the morning and very often they had laid their eggs in the nestboxes.