Existing hens not laying since bring new hens home

[In the mtns]

Hello!
I have a question about adding new hens to my current flock. We have an established flock of 7 Cuckoo Marans, we’ve had them for nearly two yrs and they’ve been great layers overall. However, since we brought home 7 RRI older pullets the CM‘s aren’t laying anymore, I mean we’re lucky to get one a day. It’s been 3 days now, is that normal?
The new hens are in totally separate run and coop, for quarantine. They can see each other but none of them really care to interact through the chicken wire. The CM’s don’t seem to be very interested or bothered by the new girls at all! So why are they not laying?
Any info would be appreciated!
thank you in advance!
Sara

 

[rosemarythyme]

If it's been 3 days, yes that sounds normal. Adding new birds is a stressor and stress slows/stops egg laying, even if they're not in the same enclosure.

 

[In the mtns]

If it's been 3 days, yes that sounds normal. Adding new birds is a stressor and stress slows/stops egg laying, even if they're not in the same enclosure.

Darn! Ok, good to know @rosemarythyme thank you for chiming in!

 

[rosemarythyme]

There's no magic number on how long it'll take them to resume laying like before, but I'd say you're looking at maybe 1-2 weeks for them to get back on track. Assuming you're integrating in the new birds into the existing flock, it could draw out a little longer, depending on how smoothly the integration goes.

 

[In the mtns]

There's no magic number on how long it'll take them to resume laying like before, but I'd say you're looking at maybe 1-2 weeks for them to get back on track. Assuming you're integrating in the new birds into the existing flock, it could draw out a little longer, depending on how smoothly the integration goes.

Knowing this is helpful, now I won’t worry and just trust their timing. Thank you.
I was thinking of keeping the new gals isolated for one month, but I just discovered one of them is snotty and gurgly, so this may hamper things a bit!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I was thinking of keeping the new gals isolated for one month, but I just discovered one of them is snotty and gurgly, so this may hamper things a bit!

You said they can see each other from the current enclosures? If that's the case they're likely too close as far as medical quarantine (do you know how far apart they are?), so I certainly hope none of the new birds actually have anything...

 

[In the mtns]

You said they can see each other from the current enclosures? If that's the case they're likely too close as far as medical quarantine (do you know how far apart they are?), so I certainly hope none of the new birds actually have anything...

The new girls are in an enclosure that the current flock can walk around to see the new girls, but they don’t interact and just don’t seem interested. But… if they wanted to, they could get face to face at the chicken wire

 

[In the mtns]

The new girls are in an enclosure that the current flock can walk around to see the new girls, but they don’t interact and just don’t seem interested. But… if they wanted to, they could get face to face at the chicken wire

@rosemarythyme I may head to the local feed store for some tetracycline just in case!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Okay, so just to clarify: the 1 month time you quoted is generally the length for biological quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ - note that the recommendation is keeping the flocks at least 100 ft apart for 1 month (with the new birds downwind of the old) with clothing and shoe changes in between, as diseases can be passed in the air, in the soil, on your clothing, etc. At this point anything the new birds have has likely already been passed to your old flock, so moving them apart is unlikely to have any benefit.

For integration (which is what you have going at this point) you're looking at maybe 1-2 weeks before you can try letting them interact without a fence in the way. Your flock's reaction right now is good, they're not overly interested in the new birds, so you can probably try a supervised interaction sooner rather than later.

I've never had any respiratory issues in my flock, so that'll be something to keep an eye on. If needed, post on the Emergency forum with a description of what you're seeing, and hopefully someone with experience on that front will have some suggestions.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I had a couple snotty sneezy chickens about 30 feet from my established flock. I got them from a guy who was keeping them in a very dusty (no vegetation, no shade, solid fine-grained sand, total nightmare) run so I assumed their sneezing was from this. Once I got them home I realized they had actual snot coming from their nares and their poop was runny. I dont have the space to do a legit medical quarantine so I did the best I could for over a month. Since they have recuperated and integrated this thing has come back on one of them twice and basically moved through my whole flock. It is usually just sneezing for a couple weeks and nothing serious. I have no idea what it is but I did take one to the vet who told me it wasn't contagious (wrong) and prescribed antibiotics (which did nothing). I hope whatever is up with your birds is as mild as what mine have. It's a tough lesson to learn that sometimes older birds are more trouble than they're worth.