5 hens...One egg per day

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trip404

trip404

Hatching
5 Years
May 18, 2014
4
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Can someone answer my question???
I have 5 hens, 2 black sex link and 3 New Hampshire reds. I'm getting one egg per day in the same nesting box.
Not sure which hen is laying. Is this normal? Shouldn't I be getting more than one egg?
Please help. Thx!!!
 
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What kind of feed are you using as this could be a problem in a lot of cases but if you are not using Lay feed of some kind you might want to try that and are you giving them any Oyster-shells on the side ....

The heat also has a lot to do with egg production and the age of the chickens .....

For better egg production I feed my chicks hard boiled egg's with Turkey grow with high Protein as chicks and by week 15 I normally start getting egg's then change over to Lay feed ....

Are you putting anything in the water .....






This is one of my pullets who started producing egg's at 15 weeks and buy week 20 went broody and by wee 23 hatched out some hicks she is now 25 weeks old ....





gander007
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No. I check the run and outside the coop daily. Just the one egg in the same box. Strange. They are roughly 6 months old.
 
They all mature and start laying at different rates, even within the same variety and/or breed. I have 3 Red Sex Links, 5 Easter Eggers, 5 Golden Laced Wyandottes, and 3 Buff Orpingtons - all will be 19 weeks old on Monday, July 7th. Also in the mix are 2 Red Speckled Sussex (one pullet, one cockerel) and 2 Cuckoo Marans who are a week younger than the ones I listed first. Out of all of those girls, 19, I have one little RSL who has laid 6 eggs now, starting a couple of days before she was 18 weeks old, and another who has laid 4 rubber eggs until her assembly line synced and she gave me a beautiful, big brown egg this morning. Out of all of the others, only one of my EEs is showing signs that she might lay in a couple of weeks.

I am not long on patience, as anyone who knows me will tell you. In a perfect world all of the RSLs would start laying at the same time, then all the EEs, and so on down the line. Oh, well, the anticipation is part of the fun!

It's hard to know which of your girls is laying - or even if more than one might be. They'll share nesting boxes, which adds to the confusion, doesn't it? <sigh> About the only ways to tell for sure is to physically catch one either in the act or as she's leaving the nest, or to check the vents. I understand that a hen who is laying has a moist, wider vent and one who isn't has a smaller, dry vent. There's also a check you can do with how many fingers will fit between the pubic bones, but since I don't remember that exactly I will let someone with more experience than I have chime in.
 
I don't know what the problem is, but you should definitely be getting more than one egg a day, particularly with the two types of chickens you have. I have Black Sex Links and they are laying machines, typically giving me 5 eggs (sometimes 6) per week per hen. Even the New Hampshires should give you 3 eggs per week per bird. Of course there are always things that can interfere with egg production such as poor lighting, excessive temperatures (heat or cold), inadequate amount of light, improper nutrition, disease, broodiness, or molting. I suspect one or more of these factors is responsible (given your hen types and ages, its not likely to be the last two on my list) and I would look into these causes. Good luck in getting your flock to normal laying levels.
 
trip404 said:
No. I check the run and outside the coop daily. Just the one egg in the same box. Strange. They are roughly 6 months old.
Click to expand...
I missed the post about their ages....I think I was posting as that and the others came up. If they are that old then erase my earlier comments and go with what the more experienced folks are telling you. Sorry for passing out misinformation to you, but I was thinking they were younger than that and had just started laying. Don't know where I got that, but there ya go - that's my defense and I'm sticking to it.

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I'm feeding them laying pellets in a gravity feeder and scratch every couple of days.
They all look healthy. I also give them plenty of vegetable scraps out of the gardens.
Although, I live in South Georgia and it's hotter than homemade hell. Possibly slowing down production?
 
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Hello there and welcome to BYC!

They may not be of laying age yet. Are the combs, faces and wattles large and red? Are the hens squatting for you yet? Post some pics here of the heads so we can see. They may just be too young yet to lay.

Good luck and I hope the eggs start coming down the pipes soon!
 
One of the five has a large comb and dropping wardels. The others are slowly growing.
Maybe that's the answer, plus it's so hot here.
 

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