4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Sally k]

Hi

Our hens only came to live with us last friday. We have a 1 called Violet, 2 Tulip and Marigold. We was getting 3 eggs a day but for the last 2 days someone hasn't laid.

I can't work which one it is, they all appear to be very happy and are eating ,drinking and have loads of time roaming round the garden.

When I come into the garden they all run up to see if i have goodies and Violet is indicating she wants to be stroked or picked up, the are both very friendly but not as friendly as Violet has already become but it is early days.

 

Is this normal or could one be unwell but not showing any signs? They have laying pellets to eat, grit, some corn and then fresh foods such as grapes. I have also been giving them a scoop of well being pellets in with their laying pellets as thought they may need after the move. In there water I put in a fresh garlic clove every other day and on non garlic days they have a poultry drink mixed in. This all what their previous owner did so I didn't want to change their feeding habits.

 

Hope someone might be able to give me some advice or just reassurance.

 

Sally x

[The Dogmother]

Sally, you don't say how old the hens are - this could help in a diagnosis.

 

A couple of things to look at...

 

How many treats/s"Ooops, word censored!"s are they getting? You need to be sure that they are getting only pellets until late afternoon, then feed them s"Ooops, word censored!"s and other goodies; they need the nutrients in the pellets to help them make the eggs.

 

When were they last wormed? A heavy load of worms will absorb the nutrients they need to lay. Ideally you should worm them with Flubenvet roughly 3 times a year, or more regularly if you believe them to have worms.

 

Try both of these and see what happens; I'd be interested to hear what happens.

[Sally k]

thank-you for your response, a third egg of the day has just arrived

[The Dogmother]

Great news!

 

It might be worth worming them all anyway, especially if you don't know when it was last done.

 

If they are older than 2 years, then they might just be slowing down a bit on the old egg production front.

[Sally k]

I was planning to worm them this weekend, i think the problem may have been they were not eating enough laying pellets. As with any new addition to the family there was lots of guests wanting to see them so they were getting too many treats. I had to deal out some tough love on tuesday and they got no treats until bed time when I wanted them back into their run. They had refused to eat pellets on monday and just kept tapping at the back door for treats but now they have got into a routine and have started eating their pellets again.

The hens are approx 14 months old and look very fit so hopefully the eggs will keep on flowing as my 2 year old thinks its great.

[The Dogmother]

They should be OK then now that you're settled into a routine with the treats.

 

Worm them about 3 times a year and they should be fine.