Light Sussex - Not laying

[Ladybird2618]

Hi All
I'm a relative newcomer to chicken keeping but love my girls, Daphne and Cleo.
I started with 3 x 1year old LS at the beginning of Sept this year and got three eggs within the first ten days, since then nothing!
I lost one after a month or so, so just have the 2 now. They have moulted and one is still losing a few feathers although that has calmed down now. I understand that they do stop laying when there is less daylight but I feel sure I should have had more than 3 eggs altogether.
I feed layers pellets in the morning when I let them out and corn about 3.30pm there is always fresh water and I clean out poo every morning when I feed and clean them thoroughly every fortnight.
They both have a sort of orangish cast to their feathers at the moment and I'm a little worried as I know so little about chickens.
Could you put my mind at rest and let me know I'm doing the best for them and that they will pick up once the weather gets better.
Many thanks
Lisa

[lynda66]

moulting lack of light and cold often means no eggs, try feeding extra protein ... cat biccies is a good source... they will use a lot of their food just keeping warm, so try feeding their pellets as a hot mash ... they should pick up again when the weather gets warmer

[Polly Fouracre]

Put a pinch or two of Poultry Spice on a bit of dampened bread each day, that may perk them up.

[Ladybird2618]

How do I make a hot mash?

[lynda66]

How do I make a hot mash?

pour boiling water on their food

[Snadger]

If you want all year round, regular, layers you really need to go for hybrids as opposed to traditional breeds.

Light Sussex are a lovely bird (I used to have some, but only have a cockerel now) but will always be outlayed by a hybrid!

[Bramble-Poultry]

an orangish hue to the feathers? sounds like you keep them on earth pen floor? my light sussex - before she went to chook heaven - used to pick up a muddy colour when it got damp as the mud would stain her feathers. they moulted through clean again.

i agree with the posts above, cold weather + lack of light = burning calories to keep going. eggs are a by product in this situation. I would also ask how much corn they eat? too much can cause them to gain weight and a fat chicken wont lay eggs.

i would suggest that you keep up with the layers - hot or cold - plenty of fresh water and dont go too mad on the at biscuits as mentioned above as they are usually fish based (which can taint the flavour of the eggs when you finally get them) plus if not, they might be chicken flavoured and feeding animal protein to chickens is banned under EU law (not that i really care much for the EU) but this could be the thin end of the wedge as scrapey in sheep and Bovine Sponiform Encapelopathy (BSE) all started by feeding animal remains in the food source back to the animal.

I tend to stear clear of any animal protein (except what the chooks pick up themselves in the way of worms and slugs) for this very reason. Also factor in that the biscuits could have animal protein baked in and you have no control over how it was kept. it could encourage the growth of salmonella in the food source which will get to your eggs and trust me - you really dont want to go down that road......

[Hilary B]

an orangish hue to the feathers? sounds like you keep them on earth pen floor? my light sussex - before she went to chook heaven - used to pick up a muddy colour when it got damp as the mud would stain her feathers. they moulted through clean again.

i agree with the posts above, cold weather + lack of light = burning calories to keep going. eggs are a by product in this situation. I would also ask how much corn they eat? too much can cause them to gain weight and a fat chicken wont lay eggs.

i would suggest that you keep up with the layers - hot or cold - plenty of fresh water and dont go too mad on the at biscuits as mentioned above as they are usually fish based (which can taint the flavour of the eggs when you finally get them) plus if not, they might be chicken flavoured and feeding animal protein to chickens is banned under EU law (not that i really care much for the EU) but this could be the thin end of the wedge as scrapey in sheep and Bovine Sponiform Encapelopathy (BSE) all started by feeding animal remains in the food source back to the animal.

I tend to stear clear of any animal protein (except what the chooks pick up themselves in the way of worms and slugs) for this very reason. Also factor in that the biscuits could have animal protein baked in and you have no control over how it was kept. it could encourage the growth of salmonella in the food source which will get to your eggs and trust me - you really dont want to go down that road......

Cattle and sheep are vegetarian (barring the odd insect that gets swallowed by mistake). Chickens, like pigs, are omnivorous by nature, and the restrictions involvedare probably excessive (although it is not good practice to feed any creature on its own kind without thorough cooking, and even then caution is required). We kept chooks mainly before the rules were introduced, and they DID get poultry carcases to pick over (after we had got all the stock and soup we could), but not often, and we weren't selling anything chook related (there was an informal egg exchange when not all hens in the area were off-lay at the same time).

[Ladybird2618]

Many thanks for your help - I do have an earth floor but am going to get some bark down as it is getting a little muddy when it rains.
I feed them a little corn most afternoons and when I made them a mash they wouldn't eat it. They seem fairly happy and not fat. I'll cut down on the corn and keep up with the pellets and hopefully when the days get warmer and longer we'll get some eggs!
Lisa