Chickens not laying anymore?

[unclejohn]

So about the time of the first snow here in canada, id say sometime in late november.. my neighbors dogs attacked my flock and killed two of the chickens. Some of my older birds had stopped laying already but i was getting 13-17 eggs a day from 24 hens. (that includes the 10 older girls and the 12 that were just starting to lay)
(during the summer my little hens were babies and i was getting 7-10 a day from the ten older birds) Anyways..so after this dog attack, literally the next day egg production went down. I was only getting 6-8 eggs a day and sometimes less. That was more than a month ago and i never get more than 8 a day now!

After the attack i kept them in the coop all day for a week and after that they didnt even want to come out because of the snow so i just keep it closed now.

I have 10 new birds left that are new and started laying at around the time of the dog attack. and ten older ones. i know that several of the older ones are not laying now that winter started. they started growing their feathers back as well.

I have a light in there that is on usually as soon as it gets dark and all night long. its a cfl bulb though and only 30 watts so its not that bright, but easily bright enough to see well in there.

So anyone know what might be going on? is my light not bright enough? did the dogs permenantly stop them? or is it just winter instinct settling in?

 

[ThePRfan]

They could still be traumatized from the dog attack.

After molt,birds can go months without laying.

There really is no "winter" instict.Your birds are probably cold,birds like a nice,dark/shadey nests,maybe tey taking the light out?
As for your young birds,they are likely hitting the egg cycle.

I also doubt your dogs stopped them,my birds have been grabbed by foxes,and layed right after.
Welcome to BYC!
ThePRfan

 

[sourland]

Stress from the dog attack, normal break from laying on the part of the older hens, molting - all factors that have most likely impacted egg production. 24 hour light is probably not a good idea. Try using a timer so that your hens are provided with approximately 14 hours of light per day. Rest assured that your hens will lay again.

 

[unclejohn]

okay i will try turning the light off for night

 

[Apocha14]

First off what are you feeding them daily right now? A friennd of mine told me to look at it like this-



If youre feeding them say, only layer pellets, that diet gives them the energy to do only one thing... and thouht you think that would be to lay, in the winter it would actually be to keep warm. So a protein rich diet would be a must for the winter. This would allow the hens to use energy on keeping warm, and energy on laying as well! My hens are getting a mash of warm water with layer pellets, small portion of cracked corn, and some safflower and sunflower seeds. There are many protien rich foods you can feed them, just google. mine also get mealie worms as treats too!

 

[unclejohn]

Right now I am feeding them 19% layer feed and then i throw them corn and barley once a day along with some bread, lettuce, potatoes and whatever else i have

 

[Apocha14]

im not sure how much protein those types of foods have but it's worth researching

 

[ThePRfan]

Right now I am feeding them 19% layer feed and then i throw them corn and barley once a day along with some bread, lettuce, potatoes and whatever else i have 

Corn and bread are just fillers,you should probably have a all day food set up.
Potatoes really shouldn't be given to chickens,they can get it stuck in their crawl,or the throat.

 

[unclejohn]

Corn and bread are just fillers,you should probably have a all day food set up.
Potatoes really shouldn't be given to chickens,they can get it stuck in their crawl,or the throat.

oh really? i have never actually given them potatoes before but yesterday my dad gave me some left overs from his fridge and there were a few potatoes in there. last night is turned the light off at 10pm and today when i woke up and i turned it on (around 730 am) so that should give me enough light. during the day they dont need the light on so i turn it off around 9am. i built the coop with big windows so that the sun can shine in there all winter. stays pretty warm actually. it was -15 here the other day and the coop was warm enough to keep the water unfrozen!

 

[unclejohn]

They could still be traumatized from the dog attack.

After molt,birds can go months without laying.

There really is no "winter" instict.Your birds are probably cold,birds like a nice,dark/shadey nests,maybe tey taking the light out?
As for your young birds,they are likely hitting the egg cycle.

I also doubt your dogs stopped them,my birds have been grabbed by foxes,and layed right after.
Welcome to BYC!
ThePRfan

what do you mean they are hitting the egg cycle?

i have been turning their light off at 10pm now and on at 730 am for about three days, so i really hope they start to lay because i have 20 hens and i would really like to get more than 6 eggs a day!!