Broody hen/egg problems...

[BettyR]

My one year old hens have gone from laying almost 2 dozen-ish eggs a day to 1 dozen if I'm lucky.

The 28 hens and 2 roos have a 1 acre wooded/fenced lot to roam on with plenty of food, water and plenty of shade, but it's very hot and very humid... my main problem is that the major portion of my Buff Brahmas have all gone broody.

I'm planning to add at least 2 dozen Production Reds this fall...I've never had a problem with large numbers of Production Reds going broody so hopefully that will take care of a lot of my problems....but I'm just not sure whether I should cull out most of the Brahmas or not. I'm not sure if the extra hens would be too many for the space allowed and I'm not sure if I want to feed a bunch of broody hens who aren't laying.

I sell my eggs to several regular customers and have new potential customers begging for eggs that I just can't supply. This lack of egg production has gotten them very upset with my hens. They all really love the rich color and flavor of the home grown eggs...I hate having to tell people no but what can you do?

I would appreciate any ideas on the subject.

 

[Uppity Peon]

You can't change the weather but you can help your hens beat the heat. They like to relax in a shady yet airy spot (tree shade feels cooler than than shade provided by a roof) and have dust baths.

Broodiness can be broken by denying the broodies access to litter and nesting material, if possible, a wire bottom cage in an air conditioned space.

 

[BettyR]

Thanks...for the info but an AC for the chickens is out of the question. I have a hard enough time paying to AC my house in the Texas heat.

 

[Uppity Peon]

I can appreciate that. Maybe a fan blowing on their feet and bottoms will help.

 

[LynneP]

I'm betting those broodies have tons of eggs stashed somewhere. Time for a serious recon mission...

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
No, I don't think so...if they did they would be sitting on those eggs.... but they are in the chicken coop sitting on the nests all the time... even though I take all the eggs away every day.

 

[mjdtexan]

I live in Houston(ish) and I am having problems with egg production right now. I've added fans and they seem to be enjoying them but I have not seen more egg production from it. The fans have been in there for 3 days. I've also noticed that food consumption has gone down by half and the water consumption has doubled.

 

[LynneP]

Will your birds wade in shallow water? I've been filling low livestock bowls as wading pools for mine and they really appreciate it.

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
I'm about sixty to seventy miles East and slightly North of Houston....and I've had the same thing. I was thinking that they were boycotting the laying pellets because they are used to crumbles but I've noticed the same thing. I guess it really is the heat.

My area is too large for fans but they are free to roam a large area with lots of shade so I really don't think fans would do any good.



Quote:
The water is a good idea...I may just break down and get a small wading pool.

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
I woulda never thought they would wade in shallow water. Learn something every day I suppose.