[zarzar]

Hi my girls all seem to have been off lay for some time now as they are ex battery hens but hey are all looking well now and still nothing, does anyone know anything i can do or give them to encourage them back into lay.

[CameronS]

it could just be them going off for the winter, or moulting sometimes throws them off - you could try adding poultry spice to feed, it sometimes helps

[Castle Farm]

You could try adding some carrot, potatoes and onions.

Unlikely to lay before next spring,if they do lay again.

Soup is the way to go.

[in the hills]

   Wait for spring now.
         Some may start laying during the winter months but it is quite usual for many hens to have a little rest during autumn/winter. If you want a few eggs before then you could get a couple of POL hybrids. These will usually come into lay regardless of the season and keep going through the winter. We bought a couple of Bluebells last autumn for this reason as we knew a lot of our older hens and pure breeds would have a break.

[Mel Rice]

Are you sure they have stopped laying and not just hiding them?

[Moleskins]

I bought some POL hens about 5-6 weeks ago and nothing, I went and got two brown hens last week so at least we're getting some eggs to make the trip to the henhouse worthwhile.
I'd very much like to know how to persuade them all to start laying, don't want them going off lay before they've even started

[in the hills]

Moleskins - What kind of POL hens did you get 5-6 wks ago?
                   POL is a very general term and some people will sell quite young hens and describe as POL. You then have quite a while to wait until they are laying. I find many pure breed hens are a little older than hybrids when they come into lay.
                    Did they look like POL pullets when you bought them? ie. small pale combs


Don't really think there is a way to bring them into lay. They will when they are ready as long as they are healthy and getting correct nutrition etc.

[Moleskins]

I got 2 white Sussex, 1 Buff Orpington 1 RIR and 1New Hampshire Red, they were all supposed to be at about 19 weeks, they're all healthy enough, eating growers at first but I've put them onto layers since the 2 brown hens went in (otherwise you can't eat the eggs ?). They also get a handful or two of cracked corn daily, and obviously have water all the time.
They're full size hens not bantams and the combs are just starting to go a bit red along with those two dangly bits under the chin (sorry for using technical terms in a post)

[in the hills]

Moleskins - I have RIR's and these were around 25 wks  and in some cases a bit older still before they began to lay. One batch that I thought would start to lay before the winter arrived, actually waited until spring (though the weather up here was bitter that year).Have never kept Buff Orpingtons but I guess these are fairly slow to mature ..... it seems to follow that the smaller breeds reach maturity faster than the heavy breeds in my experience. Tiny pekin cockerels, for example, can be crowing at 8 wks old. Since they are not hybrids I think there is plenty of time for your hens to start laying ..... good sign that comb and wattles are starting to colour.


I think there was some debate about this in a previous thread but personally if I bought POL pullets I would put them straight onto layers pellets as opposed to growers. Knew someone who owned battery/free range units and this was general practice. I also feed a lot of grain though and hens free range so do have varied diet.


You'll really enjoy those eggs when they finally arrive. 

[katie]

As has been said, it's quite normal for hens to take a break now the days are getting shorter. My last year's layers are gradually shutting down and going into moult. This years pullets went straight onto layers pellets and their combs are growing and reddening up so I'm hoping they'll take over the egg production before the others stop entirely for winter. If you breed your own replacements, hatching birds in early April is the way to get layers that start in the Autumn and go through the winter.