6 mo. old hens not laying...why?*Pics*

[Knock Kneed Hen]

A friend who sells eggs just asked me for some because she can't keep up with customer demand. She ordered 3 Rhode Island Reds and 7 Barred Rock chicks more than 6 mos. ago and out the ten hens she gets only 4 very small eggs a day. ( Her other hens are older and not laying at all--no culling here.) What would cause these hens to not be laying regularly. I've attached a picture of her coop and run set up too. She has the hens going out of the coop to outside laying boxes. I don't think that's the problem as she has raised many chickens in the coop and they've all caught onto it!

The nest boxes are accessible from the side. The run is a very large fenced in area under the trees.

 

[deerman]

1. FEED....only feed a good layer feed ...not scatch

2. Give them 16 hours of light, so if only 12 real daylight ,give them 4 more.

3. Worm them 3 times a year.


do those 3 things , the younger hen will lay a egg a day, older hens will lay a egg every other day.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

What are they being fed? Is it starting to cool off there? Does she know their age in weeks?

She needs to be sure they are getting a good quality 16% protein laying feed (such as Layena) and that they have access to oyster shell every once in a while. Also, lack of water could be a contributor to smaller eggs, as well as them being pullets. Pullets will lay a small egg for a time and then they will gradually get larger.

If they are not getting enough day-light or warmth, they will reduce or totally stop laying.

 

[midget_farms]

This time of year its almost always the amount of daylight they get. If they don't get lots & lots of daylight they may wait until spring to lay!

I & many others use artificial lights in the coop to supliment the light. Mine turn on at 5am & then off at 7am then turn on again at 6pm & off again at 9am. So in effect my birds have 'daylight' from 5am to 9pm.

 

[borderchick]

Do you need any special kind of bulb when you add the light artificially? I'm thinking I have a similar problem with my flock, with only 1 out of 4 laying and they are all about the same age, nearing 6 months. They are mostly free range, but sleep in their coop at night, sunlight now is getting scarce.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Thanks for your replies!!

I live in the same area and I'm getting 12-17 eggs a day from my 18 hens. I don't have any artificial light in my coop yet, but I have lots of windows and she doesn't. I just figured since they're out most of the day it wouldn't matter how many windows the coop has. My friend has always gotten Australorps and never any problems with laying this time of the year.

This is MY first flock so I'll be curious to see how my girls slow down production.

 

[deerman]

I alway when using lights, turn them on in the morning, off after daylight. Never turn light off after dark, they will be caught off the roost.

The lights on is their wake up call

Its the lights that make them think it spring ,not the temp. heck i have had them lay at -10 F , but you better gather the eggs before they freeze.

 

[chickenboy7c2d]

give them lots of protein, i give mine porridge with soya beans every morning to compensate for the lack of protein they have otherwise.