18 hens and one egg!

[greenegglover]

I've been in the same boat with my ladies, but today I had 3 eggs around 9 am then checked again at 12:30 and had 5 more..... 8 out of 16...not bad!!!!

 

[the egg ranger]

I'm in the St Louis area and until three week ago I was getting 14 - 18 eggs a day from 20 pullets (hatched Feb. 28) I purchased an additional 15 pullets Marans, RIRs and 4 Cubalayas. they have all settled in after a short pecking period. The new hens were hatched in May. We had a very hot summer and no rain. Then a rainy period and now days in the 80s and nights in the 50s, I have put 3 lights in their pen for approx 14 hrs of light each day. I have been feeding ADM's Tindal laying formula, supplemented with some scratch each day, they have access to a horse pasture each day for 1/2 hr to 2 hrs. they are in a pen which 14 x 42 and an outside pen of 20 x 30. I toss in lettuce, garden trimmings, whole pumkins, etc. They are all active and appear healthy with no sluggish or nest bound birds. They are too young to be molting so I don't understand the extreme drop in egg production ( 4-6) I'm hoping the change the change in the night time temps is the cause and they will rebound and the new young birds will go into production. Any thoughts?

 

[avanderhule]

HA! I cannot take another few months of "that time of year"! Ours is the summer...when everything shuts down and hibernates. It's just too stinkin' hot to do anything, let alone lay an egg! I really just attributed the lack of laying due to the heat. However, I am pretty convinced that I have not given them the protein they need! I am moving toward a more protein (and calcium) intense mix to EXclude ALL corn and grains (used as filler), and just stick to high protein seeds, dried peas, and dried bugs and worms. Free choice oyster shell, but also add old, dried, crushed egg shells and to dry seed mix.

I may make my 11 year old start raising meal worms as a homeschool project!!

I just cannot make myself buy pellets or scratch. Not only is a lot of it wasted when it gets wet or falls and gets smashed, but it has so many additives that I am hell-bent on finding a solution that is economical and effective for chicken health and production!! I WILL do it! I am close, and I will let you all know when I arrive!

 

[Schrebergaertner]

avanderhule, can you please post a link to the site you found that has 11 lbs. of mealworms for $100? That's a great deal! Thanks!

 

[PressOn]

My thoughts are ;
Toxins
Hidden eggs in the yard, you would likely have noticed this by now.
eating the eggs, including the shell.
Water


Could they be possibly boycotting the Organic food special blends?
Perhaps they need some romance, do you have a rooster?

My first guess is If one of them has a parasite it is very likely to spread.
Second; that their is something in your yard, plan, or mineral that is toxic, possibly in your food blend.
Third guess would be an animal or snake steeling the eggs.
Fourth, it might by time to make chicken Pies and start over.
Always Press On

 

[Woodschick]

I am getting one egg a day. I have twelve hens. I was getting much a month ago. This thread is helpful. I am going to increase their protein and see if production improves. The temperature here is starting to trend downwards ... It was about 58 degrees today. Thanks for the great question and advice.

 

[avanderhule]

Here is the link for the mealworms. Please note, they are dried, not alive...if that matters to you, but you can always hydrate them...however they will not ever crawl again!!!

I also just noticed that you can now get 22 lbs for $210.00. I know that's just 2 containers of 11 lbs, but it's $4 less and it's free shipping!

http://www.driedmealworms.com/dried-mealworm-bulk-order.php.

The company is super nice. I have emailed them a couple times with questions and they have been awesome with responding and information!

Press on: Thanks for your thoughts! There are a few on that list that I can say are positively not the issue, and some I will consider! I would imagine that if it were a toxicity issue, I would have seen other symptoms, not just a lack of production! Unfortunately, there is no facilitating the "bow-chicka-bow-bow"!! I cannot get a rooster in my community! They would throw me out for sure!

They eat the food I put out and dig through the yard when bored! There have been things they won't eat, so I know they don't eat it if they don't like it! I have stuff for them to climb on and through and they are very entertained! Plus we are out there a few times a day hangin' with them! So it's not a cooped up issue.

The chicken pies comment is funny, but now I have to figure it out! And it seems I am not alone. I am truly surprised at how many others, with several hens, are going through the same struggles! It's sad, but encouraging!

My husband just got a new job so I WILL be throwing together a kick-ass feed and see if it makes a difference. If if does, I will find economical ways make it doable for everyone.

Remember Friends! It is soooo important that we not just do what everyone says to do. It's like the food pyramid! It's the lobbyists who fought so hard to be on that stupid chart! Not what was good for us to consume! We don't force molt (at least you shouldn't ever!), we don't cage (if you do, you shouldn't be on this forum) and we love our chickens. But know, that just 'cause the chicken laid the egg in your backyard instead of in a cage somewhere, WHAT YOU FEED YOUR HEN MATTERS! Your egg will be more nutritious if you feed her nutrients!

 

[dantodd]

You can't feed your chickens what you imagine their wild diet might be. Domestic chickens are not the same as wild birds and are not engineered to produce eggs on the same diet as their wild brethren. You feed should be complete and looking at the make up of a good quality pellet will tell you how what your feed should look like. Don't count on X% of their protien coming from bugs and worms that you don't specifically feed them.

Your chickens are the result of hundreds of years of human-driven selection for egg production and ease in maintenance. Treat them like they are just that and you'll be much happier with their egg production.

This is a decent primer on devising a whole food feed for your chickens. http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html

 

[so lucky]

avanderhule, what kind of chickens do you have? Are they breeds known for egg production, or other qualities?

 

[avanderhule]

I have: 1 speckled sussex. 5 EE's, 2 red stars. 3 black stars, 1 RIR, 1 buff orpington, 3 barred rocks, and 2 gold laced wyandottes.

They are all hefty, thick and strong! My most petite hen is Henrietta who is a red star, but is mostly creamy white. She started laying the day we found out our gorgeous Delaware was a rooster. I found him mounting her, and that day she began cuddling and nestling with me, jumping on my lap and within 2 hours, her first egg was laid. She has been my favorite since. That has nothing to do with anything, except that even my smallest lays often.

dantodd: I am working on a collaboration of sites that support my theories on diet high in wheat and corn vs. seeds and protein, a more natural diet...regardless of what our fore fathers have manipulated in the last 150 years. I agree they have made it easier for an increased egg production, but those conclusions came and still come at a very high price and it is nothing short of torturous and narcissistic.

Granted, most on this forum are fine with pellets or some kind of already rationed food source. That is fine. But my argument is that there are other options available than just what the farming industry (not local farms mind you) and USDA 'recommend' that we feed our animals and ourselves for that matter. They say chickens and cows and goats eat corn, but they don't and they shouldn't!!! They do it so the demand stays up and the large industries (such as the before mentioned Monsanto) stay in power It's working, having almost monopolized the corn industry, there is CORN IN EVERYTHING! They put it in everything for everything, all the time. And it's not just corn...it is genetically modified corn that is created, not grown. GMO's are the way of the future. We cannot be okay with that!!!

Corn and wheat are not bad. But GMO's are bad and bleached and refined are bad. That is the base of the All-American diet and it equals Celiac's Disease and obesity, just to name 2. Therefore I do not want corn or wheat in my eggs! I want that one source of amazing protein, that has not been tainted by the overhaul of society's sugar coma, to be what I put in my family's growing bodies!

UPDATE: I fed them more quinoa, a small bit of flax seeds and eggs today. I drained under my sidewalk so they had a buffet of about 1000 beetles and scorpions, and I will be giving them peas for lunch with leftover soured raw milk. Not doing it all in one day, but trying to stay aware of what they get, until I get my meal worms! CHA CHING!