i dont know what to do anymore. all but 2 of my chickens quit laying. they were all last years hatch...around march april I split them all up about a month ago while some were still in molt. most of them quit laying in spring and havent started back yet. i was getting about 24 eggs a day..now nothing. I have them on about 16 hours of light in their pen and they have access to the outside. In both of my breed ameraucana pens i cant get any eggs...even with the light. After a month or so and nothing i switched roosters in both breeding pens and still nothing. any ideas or help????? thanks
Well, even our hens need a break and this time of year is when the do it. The days are shorter and it is colder. They may have started a molt too. This is common now, there are all kinds of threads on her asking the same question. I am down to 1-2 eggs a day and I have almost 50 girls out in the yard. I am not surprised. I did actually get a pullet egg two days ago, I think it was one of the SLWs starting to lay, otherwise, it was a Silkie. It was small and perfect, and I was happy just to see an egg in the box. I do feed calf manna when they drop off to kick start them. It is high in protein and sometimes it will work depending on the reason for the drop in production. Right now I am giving them about 3 pounds of cracked corn and oats mixed a day too to help keep them warm and give them something to scratch at. It's the holidays, and not just for ourselves, but our feather friends are taking their break too. Good luck, I am sure they will get back into the swing of it again in a month or so.
Five of my 6 hens of different breeds stopped laying for almost 2 months. The easter egger continued laying daily for about a month after everyone else quit. They were going through a molt. Three weeks ago I began adding supplemental light to increase hours of light to about 15. Now I am getting 3 or 4 eggs a day, but the easter egger hasn't restarted. I guess this is the "sometimes they just need a break" theory at work.
I started givin my chickens crushed red pepper flakes a few days ago & a few have started layin again. Most of mine are still yet to young but the last one's I got are about 11/2 yrs. old & had been layin. Due to the stress of being at a new place & the time of year I think was why they quit layin & the pepper got them started again cause I don't give them any more light or anything.
well most of mine molted early summer. it has been like this now for 3-4 months none of my new pullets are laying yet either, and they were born in feb.
On my chicken blog, www.chickenreport.com, I also note that my gals have reduced their egg laying output. (/self-plug)
