First of all I started off with 4 hens and one rooster. My hens only lay 2 or even 1 a day! WIth 4 hens! why is this! I feed them egg pellet 16% and scratch. Also I have just put in another 3 hens a tiny bit smaller but they keep getting picked on and almost killed. Still only two a day. WHY!!!!

How big of an area are they in? How long have you had them? How old are they and do you know what breeds?

These answers will help us help you.

Susie

Jessman, Hens do not lay eggs every day, and now that you have added confusion to their situation with strange pullets, you can not expect any difference in production. Contented, well fed hens will be better layers. Unless you plan to hatch chicks, the rooster may not be helping things, either. Your younger birds will not come into lay easily, as they will not be able to eat and mature at a normal rate--a "new kid on the block" is never appreciated by chickens!! By the reaction of your older hens, you already know this.

Susie's questions are important. Answers may determine what you can do to improve your situation. Good luck, CJR

They are in an 8x10 pin. I've only had them for like a month and a half. And the pullets for like 4 days.The new ones are almost full grown. They older ones are in mature stage I'm sure. Don't know how old though.I have a Rhode Island Red, yellow one?, Plymoth Rock, old Black Dumpie, black one with brown head?, 2 white ones?, and one golden brown rooster?. Don't know very much about them. I am feeding them Oyster shells, 16% egg pellet, scratch, and little scrapes.

Jessman, are you certain that all 4 hens are laying? Have you observed each of them go into the nest to lay? If, for example, only 2 of your hens are doing all of the laying you are already getting good results and you may simply need to cull the ones that are not laying.

I've got 6 different breeds among my 7 laying hens and I can easily tell the eggs apart. Perhaps with only 4 hens you could save the eggs for a week and try to distinguish the eggs from one another to count how many hens are laying. Don't be afraid to write on them with pencil -- especially if you know for sure which hen a particular egg comes from.

It would be good to get this all under control before your new pullets start laying and make things even more confusing.

Steve

Ok but yes only two or three are laying. WHat do you mean by "cull the ones"????????????

Perhaps one or two of the older, more mature hens have reached an age where they won't lay as often. Most won't lay every single day but they'll come pretty close to that until they are about 18 mos. to two years and it slacks off a little bit. The older they get beyond that, the less they may lay. Some of that is genetic so can vary from hen to hen.

Before you cull anybody (butcher), maybe try giving them some vitamins in their water and a little more time to adjust to the new girls and your place. A month isn't very long although most will have made the adjustment just fine by then. But still, moving them can cause enough stress that they take a while to pick up the pace again. Vitamins always help in times of stress and with new hens in the pen, it's a good time to do that.

Your pen may get pretty crowded with that many hens in there. If you have the means to let them out a little bit, they'll benefit and so will you!

Good luck!
Susie