Hoping the STW massif can help…..

we have 4 chooks, 2 freerange from birth getting on for 4 yrs old, 2 'rescued' hens approx 2 yrs old (had them since they were due to be catfood at 9 months)

they live free range and roost in an egloo thingy.

approx november time, they went on strike. stopped laying completely. recently (2 weeks ago – in the middle of the cold snap) one of the young chooks started to lay sporadically – 1 egg every 2 to 3 days.

all four look in good health and are eating/drinking.

my question is…is it normal for them to take a break? how old do they keep laying till?

am i going to have to bite the bullet and 'retire' them? they have names so it might end up a bit traumatic.

thanks in advance.

I doubt that chooks want to be risking baby chooks in mid-winter.

Too cold – if you look at the commercial farms, hen houses are heated…google the keeping of hens in Canada they suggest a light bulb in the laying boxes to heat area up. Would you like to live outside at the moment?!!! 😯

yeah resting is normal. our 2 did, then started again just this week. but on a reduced level. They need a minimum amoutn of sunshine to produce an egg apparently.

I was told that my rescue battery hens would not lay when we first got them, then start, then stop once the days got shorter.

We've had them six months now, they didn't lay for a week when we first got them, since then we've had at least one egg a day, normally 2 (from 3 hens) every day since. Nice warm one in there at 7am this morning. They live in an old converted rabbit hutch with a large run.

when they start to moult in spring they'll start laying again

Ours laid through the first two weeks of the snow/cold but then gave up two weeks ago
Nothing to worry about IMO

+1

We've had 3 rescue hens, since April last year. They stopped laying in November (or occasionally eating their own eggs, the buggers), but have just last week started laying again.

Yeah they don't naturally lay all year round…the chicken farms use lights to keep them thinkin its summer time and so they keep laying. Mine always take a break during the winter and start up again in spring 🙂

It depends on the breed and age. My ISA Browns are each laying 6 days/week at the moment – 1 is an ex-batt I got in Autumn 2008 and still going strong, the other 2 I got at POL in spring 2009.

At some point they'll stop laying and then it's time to decide what their future holds….

sounds like it should be ok – thanks folks 🙂

as above really – it depends a lot on the breed of hen – usually hybrids are expected to lay pretty much all year round, we have a Maran cross that faithfully produces an egg day after day. 'Pure-breeds' traditionally lay between Valentines Day and (I think) Halloween. Our Light Sussex does pretty much that.

We've got 5 hens (and one cockerel) and we've only been getting one egg from the lot since Nov. I'd expect the others (a mix of Silkie, Light Sussex and Welsummers) to start laying soon…

sounds like it should be ok – thanks folks 🙂

I've got 2 marans that stopped laying about mid-october….. if they didn't look so nice I'd have eaten the buggers by now.
Also got 4 hybrids (black rock and standard brown Warren jobby) and they lay pretty well.
Your's could be cold, moulting (the older ones, but you'd see it) or fed up with the short days (you can put a light in the hen house that comes on early in the morning to make them think it's daylight). The older ones may have finished laying – you'll find out come the spring.

We (Wife..) puts a hot water bottle under the straw when its below freezing – Seems to work, as ours still lay every day…

We (Wife..) puts a hot water bottle under the straw when its below freezing

Yeah yeah….. the wife does it…… of course she does 😉

Our four (2 Mendelson Amber, 2 Something Blacktail) are still laying one a day, every day. They stopped briefly when we moved house but otherwise, apart from a grumpy one that keeps going broody, have been regular as clockwork.

My wife's gran had an ancient hen that still laid sporadically. When it did, the eggs were wrinkly. 🙂

Useually just show them a kfc box and it does the trick.

All our 3 went on strike when the snow turned up too – as above don't worry about it.
If you're wanting to put something in to help them out with the cold a hot water bottle won't keep it's heat for long in sub-zero temperatures so we were recomended a Snugglesafe Heatpad which can be had for about £15. Hens are pretty good at regulating their temperature though so we only used it when they were shivering (about 3 days of not going above freezing)

pick em up and drop them from a height of about a meter, this is the common "Reset" button on chickens.

So am I mean for letting mine deal with the cold on their own?! They always seem happy enough in the day so assume they're not suffering too much…. I have heard that when temperatures get really low some people put Vaseline on their combs to stop them getting frost bite.

If you want to give them a treat in the cold weather try giving them some warm porridge. Stand back when you take it in though as you'll probably get squashed in the stampede – they love it. Don't ask how I know 😳

give them a treat in the cold weather try giving them some warm porridge

+1 – just warm water, mixed oats and sultanas goes down a treat with our flock. Generally they only get it when it's snowy

Hmmm…I don't treat mine as pets – they're livestock!

Hmmm…I don't treat mine as pets – they're livestock!

You'd look after your livestock too though, right? I try and take the same approach only with one 3 year and one 4 year old daughter, as well as a rather soppy wife (or maybe that should be 'kindhearted' 🙂 ), my opinion doesn't always matter. When the order goes out that as it's snowing the chickens must have their hot breakfast porridge, muggins here finds himself shivering in his dressing gown feeding warm oats to a bunch of slightly overweight chickens.

My wife wants pigs but heaven only knows what she'd be like around slaughter time so until she's prepared for that it's a no-no!

Mind you – we were unexpectedly landed with a cockerel when one of our Silkies turned out to be an Arthur rather than a Martha so I'm no longer the only boy in the family. Like me he lives under the illusion that he's the boss…

Hmmm…I don't treat mine as pets – they're livestock!

Ours are pets, because we're not allowed livestock 😉

My wife wants pigs

Mine too. Or goats.

You'd look after your livestock too though, right?

I look after them pretty well I think – a safe pen with lots of space and a far too big house for them. I just am under the impression that they can deal with quite a bit of cold – not sure how much but they look fine and are still laying.