Author Topic: No eggs (Read 2493 times)

maybelle · « **on:** August 05, 2011, 09:19:36 pm »

Hi, this is my first time posting on the poultry part of forum. I have 10 chickens and they are not laying any eggs. Is there anything I should be doing to encourage them to be laying?

robert waddell · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2011, 09:39:59 pm »

what age how old are they

doganjo · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2011, 10:44:31 pm »

If they have been laying fine for a while and suddenly no eggs there must be either a predator taking them - magpies, rats etc, or they are laying away from your nest boxes. I keep my birds in theri run till lunchtime, b y which time most of them have laid, tehnt ehy get out to roam. They are so used to that now that any late layers go abck to teh henhouse to lay. The ducks however are daft and will lay anywhere, so since they usually lay before 10 am they are allowed out sooner. Happy egg hunting - got any kids that would fancy a trail around looking for them tomorrow morning?

princesspiggy · « **Reply #3 on:** August 06, 2011, 12:57:13 am »

ours go off lay when its hot.
we had one set of chooks up by our house and we never got eggs from them, but when we moved them to a different park, they were laying well. i put it down to gutsy labrador squeezing thru pop hole and snaffling them everyday!!

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #4 on:** August 06, 2011, 08:18:46 am »

if they are laying elsewhere you can put a marble or ceramic egg into the nesting box.

How old are your birds? You may have an egg eating chook, crows, magpies, rats, mites (which reduce the eggs produced but you should get some at least)

Helencus · « **Reply #5 on:** August 06, 2011, 09:03:11 am »

Mine have gone off lay too, starting to lose feathers so looks like they're starting the moult. Are yours losing any feathers?

maybelle · « **Reply #6 on:** August 06, 2011, 06:09:03 pm »

Thanks for the replies. They have been in moult. How long does this last? Its been weeks since we have had any eggs. I will have a hunt and see if they are laying eggs elsewhere. Not sure on their age, bought from an auction.

Snapper · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2011, 09:54:13 am »

Try keeping them in their shed for a day maybe even 2 , make sure they have food and water in there with them. Then if you keep try to check a couple of times during the day you should be able to tell if they are laying or not.

If it's very hot I wouldn't shut them in, do it on a cooler day.

We also find when it's very hot egg production goes down.Also sometimes a move can unsettle them and it can take a wee while to start laying again, this could be the case if you've not had them for long.

maybelle · « **Reply #8 on:** August 08, 2011, 09:20:50 pm »

Have looked and they are not laying elsewhere. I would think its got to be something like the heat as I think its weird that all of them have stopped laying at the same time. I don't think its the move as we have had them for a few months now.