10 Layers - No Eggs!

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RoxieRoo11

RoxieRoo11

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My husband and I are new to raising chickens. We have a mixed flock of 8 different breeds. We have 2 hens of each breed (no, his name isn't Noah!). 11 of these hens are over 25 weeks old. We are getting one egg a day! We've been told that if the we keep mixed breeds together, they won't lay. I find that sort of preposterous but who knows! Any suggestions? We feed them Purina Layena and when we have eggs (store bought) we crush the shells and let them have that also. The chickens are eating us out of house and home with no return! Help!
 
Mixed breeds won't cause any problem with laying. Some of the breeds you have may be "late layers tho," Even siblings don't necessarily start laying at the same time. If you could post photos of each different breed, probably some of us could identify them. If you recently acquired these birds, they may delay laying eggs because of the move. Chickens don't get back to business till they feel safe in their surroundings.
 
drumstick diva said:
Mixed breeds won't cause any problem with laying. Some of the breeds you have may be "late layers tho," Even siblings don't necessarily start laying at the same time. If you could post photos of each different breed, probably some of us could identify them. If you recently acquired these birds, they may delay laying eggs because of the move. Chickens don't get back to business till they feel safe in their surroundings.
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Agreed with drumstick diva here -- there could be a couple of different factors at play here. They are "over 25 weeks" - but how old are they? The "normal" range for onset of production can range up to 28+ weeks, especially factoring in time of year, and other things that can influence onset of laying.
 
I am sorry to hear your dilemma. We need ALOT of information in order to correctly answer your question as to why they are not laying. It may help if you let us know:

What breeds?
Coop size in relation to how many you have.
Free range or all cooped up?
Location, size and how high up are your nesting boxes?
A picture of the inside of your coop and/or run?
A description, good one, of of the inside of your coop: type of roost, type and how many boxes, how much light is getting inside the coop.

NO, NO and NO to the question that mixed breed flocks don't lay like full breed flocks. This is just silly. I have over 10 years of having mixed breed flocks with no laying problems such as not laying due to mixed breeds. You can use this site as proof that this is a silly suggestion. Many of us have mixed breed flocks!

Yes, 18-25 weeks is about the time that most heritage and rare breeds start laying but keep in mind; it is about winter time and normally most flocks start slowing down on production. For example: I have 15 hens and was getting about 10-15 eggs per day and now I am getting around 2-4 a day just in the last two weeks because of the light and environment factors that happen during fall. I expect this every year!

Also keep in mind that new chickens go thru atleast 3 light and one full molting periods before they start to lay. You may just have the same problem as most people do when they buy their chicks mid-year, they grow out and feather out then go right into molt before winter hence no eggs until spring depending on the breed. Yes it's frustrating but that may be the case. You'll find this true even if you were to go out right now and buy some hens that are laying.
 
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Welcome to BYC!
frow.gif
We're glad to have you.

There are many reasons why your birds may not be laying, or at least, aren't laying well.

  • The normal range for birds to first start laying is 5-7 months, or 20-28 weeks. Even you "over 25 week olds" probably still fit in that time frame. Slower maturing breeds or naturally poor layers (like Silkies and many bantams) will sometimes take longer. Your birds may simply not be ready to lay yet.
  • Decreasing daylight hours. Throughout the U.S., daylight hours are decreasing and are already too low to sustain maxiumum egg production without supplmental lighting. Ideally, you should provide 14-16 hours of light for hens to lay well. In the winter or fall, laying decreases due to the light hours. Birds that haven't even begun laying may sometimes even wait until spring.
  • Is is possible that they are laying, and they're hiding the eggs somewhere? Sometimes, free ranging hens may hide their eggs, giving the appearance that they're not laying at all.
  • Has anything stressful happened lately? Often times, chickens stop laying briefly when something stressful, like a dog attack, sharp drop in temperature, or hot weather, happens.
  • Lastly, are you sure that they are hens?
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good points from above posters. Hope your girls start laying soon.
 
We have 2 Production Reds over a year old, 2 RIR 29 weeks old, 1 Silkie approx 29 weeks old, 1 Black Giant Jersey's 26 weeks old,
2 Lemon Orps 25 weeks, and 2 Light Sussex 25 weeks.

They are kept in a coop with a run and let out for about an hour in the evening to roam.

LOL, yes pretty sure they are all hens.

There may have been stress as we added new hens to the flock or when we enclosed the coop. I don't have any pictures but will take some and post.
 
I would expect the RIR to be laying now or really soon. The PRs that are over a year old are probably thinking about going into molt if they aren't already. None of the other breeds are early layers, most of them are fairly slow maturing breeds which usually start closer to six months, so hopefully you just need to be patient and they will start laying in the next month or two, even with some stress from adding to the flock.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm sorry that your hens aren't laying, but the other members have made some good suggestions as to why that may be so. Also, you might plug "reasons why hens aren't laying" into Google and see what else other chicken experts out there come up with. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting those eggs soon.
 
Thank you everyone. You're all wonderful! I feel better reading all your responses.
 

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