What is going on!

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marilyn1954

marilyn1954

Songster
10 Years
Sep 14, 2013
164
51
176
Small town America
I have 12 hens and 1 rooster. Hatched April12 2014. They started laying in September and I have gotten 4 to five eggs a day. EVERYDAY. My friend has 2 hens and gets 2 to 3 eggs everyday. WHY DO I GET SO FEW eggs? They free range, get crumbles, pellets and our dinner left overs, and fresh water daily. WHATS UP?
 
Could be sneaky nests you haven't found, could be egg eaters among your chooks, could be predators taking the eggs, could be egg drop syndrome, could be polycystic ovary syndrome or internal egg laying or other reproductive issues whether inherited or acquired or both, could be a lot of things... Can't give you a decent guess without more info on the hens.

What do they look like? Do they all look equally mature? If in doubt, posting pics can help.

Who's laying for sure? Have you isolated them to identify the layers, or have you checked their vents to see who's actually laying and who's not? If they're all showing the typical layer development of the vent, well, at least you know they're all laying, next trick is finding out where the eggs are going.

Have you tried caging them all for three days to see if they're all in lay? This can help identify if they're laying elsewhere, obviously.

Best wishes.
 
No hidden eggs, no predators can get in, don't know what egg drop syndrome is, probably not the other things you mentioned, I have 12 hens who I'm sure are not having all these medical issues spewed out, and it is probably just what the other people are saying that when the days get shorter they won't lay as much if not at all. They are ornamental and people are telling me they lay about every other day so for 12 hens to give me 5 eggs a day would seem about right..................I didn't know was CHOOKS was so I looked it up and this is what I found................. "when somebody has done or said something really obviously retarded that's only worth laughing about. Similar to that of a 'dag'...........not sure if you think my question was not worthy to post, or you think something is up with my chickens. You sound like you've had a lot of problems with your chickens to know of all these "syndroms" We don't even have a chicken doctor around to take them to, so I will wait til spring, we're just talking how many eggs we're having. So I'm not going to panic. LOL
 
Hi! Just so you know chook is just another word for chicken especially in Australia. Some things to consider: Your neighbor is probably exaggerating the amount of eggs they get. 2 hens can only lay 2 eggs a day, if they are getting more than that I suspect your chickens are helping
tongue.png
. Your chooks (chickens) are still pretty young and their chickens might be a little older and therefore more stable layers. Some chickens are more prolific layers than others, even within the same breed. Some breeds lay more eggs earlier than others i.e. easter eggers lay later than black sex links.
Anyway, I think your best strategy is the one you already adopted: Don't Panic.
 
marilyn1954 said:
No hidden eggs, no predators can get in, don't know what egg drop syndrome is, probably not the other things you mentioned, I have 12 hens who I'm sure are not having all these medical issues spewed out
Also interesting that your neighbor's hens are still laying well despite the daytime length, so I highly doubt that's it.
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Wrong, lol. Where'd you look that up, 'urban dictionary'?! Edit: yes. I checked.

I also saw that you had to go past the first, correct meaning of the term, to copy-paste the offensive and derogatory meaning you preferred.

From Urban Dictionary:

1
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chook
Aussie slang for "chicken." Also, "chookie."

2
chook
An Aussie slang word for chicken that's commonly used as a 'nice insult,' especially when somebody has done or said something really obviously retarded that's only worth laughing about. Similar to that of a 'dag.'
not sure if you think my question was not worthy to post, or you think something is up with my chickens.
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Re-read my post without any emotional interpretation of it and I'm sure you'll see that I just tried to cover as many angles as possible, since your post certainly didn't narrow down any possibilities while still demanding exact answers, which of course can't be provided without eliminating wrong answers first.
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Wrong again. Firstly, they're 'syndromes'. Secondly, no, I don't have any of these issues with my chooks, but I tried to address your question, which can have many possible answers including the ones I mentioned (regardless of how 'sure' you are that it's 'probably' not these diseases and common issues which you don't even know about).
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Best wishes.
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In future I'll know better than to try to help you out with information lest you react like that again. No worries.

Best wishes.
 
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It's so easy to misunderstand each other in an online forum like this. Tone and intent can be hard to read.

ChookRanger is right...no way your neighbor can get 3 eggs a day from two hens. Just not going to happen. And your birds are young. If they had hatched in February or march, they may have come into more full lay before the days got shorter.

Right now, we are getting 3-6 eggs a day for our 20 hens, but some are broody and several are in molt and others haven't come into lay yet. Come spring time we will have a bumper crop of eggs!
 
pdirt said:
It's so easy to misunderstand each other in an online forum like this. Tone and intent can be hard to read.
ChookRanger is right...no way your neighbor can get 3 eggs a day from two hens. Just not going to happen. And your birds are young. If they had hatched in February or march, they may have come into more full lay before the days got shorter.
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This bit, I thought to address before, but obviously got sidetracked by that sideswipe...

Yes, you can get three eggs a day from two hens, or even four.

I've had two-a-day layers before, they're hardly unheard of. Mine were Leghorns, but I've had mongrels lay two eggs a day too.

According to most sources the world record for the most eggs laid in one day by a single hen is seven.

Best wishes.
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marilyn1954 said:
I have 12 hens and 1 rooster. Hatched April12 2014. They started laying in September and I have gotten 4 to five eggs a day. EVERYDAY. My friend has 2 hens and gets 2 to 3 eggs everyday. WHY DO I GET SO FEW eggs? They free range, get crumbles, pellets and our dinner left overs, and fresh water daily. WHATS UP?
Click to expand...
Even tho you claim 'no hidden nests'...you can't be sure.


Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.
 

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