almost all my hens are laying...why not all of them?

[LadySteph00]

I have 25 hens, 10 red pullets, and 15 black astralorps...I'm getting about 15-17 eggs a day. I find it funny I'm not getting 25 a day yet they are all 5 months old now. What could the problem be?

 

[familyfarm1]

Some hens take a break, not all the hens will lay at the same time but sometimes they do.

 

[LadySteph00]

Thanks...I just they would lay at least once a day.

 

[familyfarm1]

We have 9 hens and some time we get 7-9 eggs a day.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

There is no problem.
If they are just 5 months old it may be that not all of them have begun to lay- just as with human girls, there is a "range" of time during which puberty would be expected, but not every girl reaches that point at exactly the same age, for laying birds 18-28 weeks is a good range to expect the beginning of egg production - those who have are likely not up to full production speed just yet, either, which means there will be day or two "breaks" in their laying cycles. Even once they are mature, laying birds in full production the average is 5-6 eggs per week (some birds may lay 7 days a week for good stretches) - so there are going to be days when one bird or another does not produce an egg that day. Generally speaking, with 25 birds, once they are all up to speed I would consider 18-20 eggs a day to be a good rate of production. It isn't a simple matter of once they start laying you will see an egg from each bird every day.

 

[One Chick Two]

There is no problem.
If they are just 5 months old it may be that not all of them have begun to lay- those who have are likely not up to full production speed just yet, either, which means there will be day or two "breaks" in their laying cycles. Even once they are mature, laying birds in full production the average is 5-6 eggs per week (some birds lay 7 days a week for good stretches) - so there are going to be days when one bird or another does not produce an egg that day. Generally speaking, with 25 birds, once they are all up to speed I would consider 18-20 eggs a day to be a good rate of production. It isn't a simple matter of once they start laying you will see an egg from each bird every day.

X2

Also, full grown hens will often alternate days, skip days (not happy with excessive heat, etc.).

We have 68 PRIR hens, and we will range from 29 to 50 eggs on a given day. We've had some BCM lay straight for 10 days stretches and take a small rest, before doing it again.

 

[LadySteph00]

Thank you! I'm getting now 18-25 a day now....I think all my girls are producing!