9 hens, 1 roo, 5 pullets = NO EGGS! What the heck is going on???

[AMoritz]

I have had good luck eliminating egg eating by increasing protein in the diet - feeing flock raiser/all flock/grower with free choice oyster shell on the side.

We do the same, matter of fact we have a high protein (22-24%) feed we get from the local Amish feed mill that we feed both our chickens and our guineas on, as well as free will oyster shells in a separate dish.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

I had the same problem all winter and spring and couldn't figure it out, I chalked it up to winter being too cold and spring just not being enough spring.

Not the case, found out by accident/pure luck that my hens been cracking open my eggs and eating em

So we let them out super early in the morning and collect eggs every few hours instead, this gets us about 4-6 eggs out of 9 possible daily now. My husband is also building roll away nesting boxes for them next week to help as well!

Oh jeez! How frustrating!. That's a nice husband to do that for you I check for eggs every couple hours all day long, and there has been no sign of egg shell or mess in the boxes. SO I don't think that is my problem. Glad you're getting eggs again!

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

I do think wind could be a factor, but also I think age is working against you. Pullets are too young to start laying, and hens molt right around 18 months of age, so actually the food switch should help them if they are molting or getting ready to (feathers are made primarily of protein, so grower being higher in protein will help them finish molt faster and in better condition). Have you seen many feathers around the yard or in the coop?

I have seen some feathers, not a ton, but with this hellacious wind it's hard to see anything sticking around on the ground for long, especially feathers... I suppose it could be an early molt. Wonder if i need to figure out some sort of supplemental wind break for the chickens now, too?

 

[pozees2]

I have seen some feathers, not a ton, but with this hellacious wind it's hard to see anything sticking around on the ground for long, especially feathers... I suppose it could be an early molt. Wonder if i need to figure out some sort of supplemental wind break for the chickens now, too?

We wrapped wire backed silt fence around most of the runs several years ago, this year it has to be replaced, and when I bought it again the quality was significantly poorer, to the extent DH didn't even want to put it up. I think he decided it's better than nothing, so we'll put it up when temps aren't 100+. It does help. We also have some trees that they huddle under and a few other places they go when it's really windy if they're out free ranging, in the run they stay under the coops if they're elevated, and in one run we have stacks of RR ties in kind of a broken Z to act as a baffle against the wind. It's been windy pretty much every blasted day here this spring.

 

[StephK8]

When we have low egg production, it is usually a black snake around.
I also have encountered this when a change has occurred. New hens, displacement.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

We wrapped wire backed silt fence around most of the runs several years ago, this year it has to be replaced, and when I bought it again the quality was significantly poorer, to the extent DH didn't even want to put it up. I think he decided it's better than nothing, so we'll put it up when temps aren't 100+. It does help. We also have some trees that they huddle under and a few other places they go when it's really windy if they're out free ranging, in the run they stay under the coops if they're elevated, and in one run we have stacks of RR ties in kind of a broken Z to act as a baffle against the wind. It's been windy pretty much every blasted day here this spring.

It sounds like you live in a super windy environment too! This freaking wind is driving me bonkers so I suppose it's not a stretch to think it would effect the laying. And there have been a few feathers around, so it could be the perfect storm of age, molt, and this annoying wind. I think I'll look into the wire backed silt fence. Thank you for the thoughtful advice.

 

[Acre4Me]

My hens lay less in very windy weather, even though they have a fairly protected spot. Molting is possible, but their combs would not be red, and is unlikely bc the amount of sunlight they are getting is at its highest point of the year (yes, technically decreasing now, but still high).

Water: If they are not drinking enough, the first thing to go is egg production. They like cool water, not warm, so make sure it is in shade and/or switch it out a few times a day or add an ice block to the waterer. If you are using nipple system, add some pans of water to see if they up their intake, or provide them with wet feed. Mine think wet feed is amazing, so when it is very hot, or very cold (like going to be below zero at night) I provide them with wet feed. When hot, they hydrate better bc they gobble down the soupy feed. In very cold weather it is to try to get them to eat as much as possible in the short daylight hours so they can keep warm better in the cold night.

Additives in water: Whenever additives are in one waterer, provide another waterer with plain fresh water. Don't add additives in a metal waterer. Rusty waterer - they don't seem to like rusty water in my experience.

Predator stress - its a real thing! Even if the predator does not breach the coop, hearing new noises or predator noises, etc will stress them out and affect laying. Recently my neighbor's entire flock was killed over 2 nights by coons. Then they were also coming over to our yard to investigate our chicken setup and spending a lot of time digging aroud the fence. Egg production dropped. Between 2 neighbors and myself, we trapped and killed 9 raccoons. While there are still coons around, they are not bothering our chickens now (that we can tell) and we are getting more eggs per day.

Age of hens/breed of hens: Affects production or laying life (how many years they lay fairly frequently).

Bullying: Sometimes bullying affects the ability of one or more to get to the feed and water. If you have more than one feed/water station, you should be ok from that perspective. Once we had a rooster that HATED 3 pullets. HATED. He would patrol the feed, patrol the coop door, etc. We had 2 feed/water stations, but would let them stay out longer to fill up on feed without being chased by the rooster. We ended up selling those three so they could hopefully have a better life in another flock. Then we had a pullet/hen that stayed in the coop nearly 24/7 due to bullying. We ended up having to put feed and water in the coop for a few weeks for her. The situation resolved after awhile, but while it was occurring, that pullet/hen was not able to really eat without our helping with the logistics.

Good Luck!

 

[aart]

Do they look and feel like they are laying?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

Do they look and feel like they are laying?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Thanks for sharing the article, @aart I will have to try the pelvic bone test this evening. They are devils to catch during the day.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

My hens lay less in very windy weather, even though they have a fairly protected spot. Molting is possible, but their combs would not be red, and is unlikely bc the amount of sunlight they are getting is at its highest point of the year (yes, technically decreasing now, but still high).

Water: If they are not drinking enough, the first thing to go is egg production. They like cool water, not warm, so make sure it is in shade and/or switch it out a few times a day or add an ice block to the waterer. If you are using nipple system, add some pans of water to see if they up their intake, or provide them with wet feed. Mine think wet feed is amazing, so when it is very hot, or very cold (like going to be below zero at night) I provide them with wet feed. When hot, they hydrate better bc they gobble down the soupy feed. In very cold weather it is to try to get them to eat as much as possible in the short daylight hours so they can keep warm better in the cold night.

Additives in water: Whenever additives are in one waterer, provide another waterer with plain fresh water. Don't add additives in a metal waterer. Rusty waterer - they don't seem to like rusty water in my experience.

Predator stress - its a real thing! Even if the predator does not breach the coop, hearing new noises or predator noises, etc will stress them out and affect laying. Recently my neighbor's entire flock was killed over 2 nights by coons. Then they were also coming over to our yard to investigate our chicken setup and spending a lot of time digging aroud the fence. Egg production dropped. Between 2 neighbors and myself, we trapped and killed 9 raccoons. While there are still coons around, they are not bothering our chickens now (that we can tell) and we are getting more eggs per day.

Age of hens/breed of hens: Affects production or laying life (how many years they lay fairly frequently).

Bullying: Sometimes bullying affects the ability of one or more to get to the feed and water. If you have more than one feed/water station, you should be ok from that perspective. Once we had a rooster that HATED 3 pullets. HATED. He would patrol the feed, patrol the coop door, etc. We had 2 feed/water stations, but would let them stay out longer to fill up on feed without being chased by the rooster. We ended up selling those three so they could hopefully have a better life in another flock. Then we had a pullet/hen that stayed in the coop nearly 24/7 due to bullying. We ended up having to put feed and water in the coop for a few weeks for her. The situation resolved after awhile, but while it was occurring, that pullet/hen was not able to really eat without our helping with the logistics.

Good Luck!

Thanks for all this info.

Water--I have multiple waterers set up (nipple and cup), and I do try to keep at least one in a shady spot, although that's hard where i live. I will put a bowl out at their favorite hang out spot under the elderberry tree today. They do prefer drinking out of puddles and bowls no matter what kind of fancy drinking system I get for them!

Wet Feed--They get fermented, wet feed every morning, and they eat dry Scratch N' Peck grower out of grandpas's treadle feeders during the day. I'll try giving them some extra fermented feed today and see if that helps, too

Predator Stress--since my rough collie pretty much runs off anything that is interested in the chickens during the day, I feel confidant they are ok in the daytime. We've had ground squirrel problems, but since capturing and relocating nearly 30 now, the population has been pretty much decimated for a couple weeks. Would squirrels cause them stress?t I know they eat eggs... With the addition of bobcat urine and multiple traps around the yard now, I'm (fingers crossed) pretty sure it's not squirrels at this time.

Bullying--I get to watch them most of the day now that I'm working from home, and haven't seen any real bullying. I do have dark brahma, Apple Bottom, who is kind of a b!*ch, but she's not being particularly evil these days, so I'm not thinking it's bullying. But I don't know what goes on int he coop at night...she could be acting up.