chickens not laying eggs...

[Judy Todd]

Could artificial light help, in your guys' opinion?

You should not need artificial light in July, the days are at least 12 to 14 hours long, which is what is recomended.

 

[biscuit7]

I'm in the same boat. I have 15 adult hens (2 are currently setting/raising chicks) and 2 adult roosters. I also have a trail of different age chicks. I've been getting 5-6 eggs per day and also give feed in the am only and occasional scraps. My neighbor down the road has also been getting fewer eggs lately. The homestead book I have says chickens eating kitchen scraps for more than 10% of their diet lay fewer eggs. And also says with temps over 80 hens lay less. It sounds like a summer egg slump to me.

Also I don't think anyone has mentioned your surplus of roosters. That can cause added stress to your flock which can reduce eggs. Ideal ratio is 1 rooster per 10-12 hens. If they are being mounted too often, roughed up, or just around fighting roos they might be stressed. I've got a few too many on my hands right now too so I understand!

I also can't afford to feed all of the chickens free choice, especially since that usually includes feeding the local families of field mice. We live on 22 acres and the chickens stick to the 5 or so acres around the house. There's plenty of worms, bugs, ticks, weeds, etc. that I think they do just fine free ranging. Maybe they would lay a few more eggs if I forked out an extra $30 a month on feed, but that's just not worth it.

Hope you get back to your ideal amount of eggs without breaking the bank or your sanity. I think it will just take time.

 

[All4Eggz]

If my math is correct, you have 16 laying hens and some are 4 years old, some also are not high end producers. So, to my thinking 10 eggs a day is great!!!
I have 12 prime layers and between the heat, molting and two prediter attacks I feel lucky to get 6 to 8 eggs a day. You are doing fine.

No, I have around 26 hens.

 

[All4Eggz]

So achieving full production isn't that important?

It's pretty important, but to an extent. I am not able to supply them with constant food all day - they would go through a whole 50 pound bag in a day or two.

 

[All4Eggz]

do you have 12 hours of light minimum I had a similar situation with my hens. i set up a simple 24 hour time clock . The lights come on a 4am and off a 4 pm this is the summer time settings in winter we set it at 3 am and 3pm ( the lights give a little heat, so make sure they are safe , I use a glass covered light with a protecting metal guard) , you want the coop to get dark slowly so set the off time so there is still some day light ,if you turn the lights off to late in the evening all the chickens will be STRESSSED and run around and possibly get hurt trying to get to a favorite perch in the dark ,because they see like you and I do so they dont see in the dark . So set the lights to go off and the day goes on and the Sun will set and it just may be what you need. Good luck, let us know if this helps.

I'll try supplemental light for the coming winter, and will use it all year round.
Thanks for the advice @the old rooster

Do you have a link to what light you are using?

 

[All4Eggz]

I'm in the same boat. I have 15 adult hens (2 are currently setting/raising chicks) and 2 adult roosters. I also have a trail of different age chicks. I've been getting 5-6 eggs per day and also give feed in the am only and occasional scraps. My neighbor down the road has also been getting fewer eggs lately. The homestead book I have says chickens eating kitchen scraps for more than 10% of their diet lay fewer eggs. And also says with temps over 80 hens lay less. It sounds like a summer egg slump to me.

Also I don't think anyone has mentioned your surplus of roosters. That can cause added stress to your flock which can reduce eggs. Ideal ratio is 1 rooster per 10-12 hens. If they are being mounted too often, roughed up, or just around fighting roos they might be stressed. I've got a few too many on my hands right now too so I understand!

I also can't afford to feed all of the chickens free choice, especially since that usually includes feeding the local families of field mice. We live on 22 acres and the chickens stick to the 5 or so acres around the house. There's plenty of worms, bugs, ticks, weeds, etc. that I think they do just fine free ranging. Maybe they would lay a few more eggs if I forked out an extra $30 a month on feed, but that's just not worth it.

Hope you get back to your ideal amount of eggs without breaking the bank or your sanity. I think it will just take time.

Glad to hear I'm not alone

Wishing you abundant egg production as well

My surplus of roosters is for a reason. We have plenty of space for all of them, and we need a few more (some bantams, some standards) because we sell hatching eggs and we need to ensure fertility so that people that buy our eggs get better hatch rates.

Thanks for responding

 

[All4Eggz]

You should not need artificial light in July, the days are at least 12 to 14 hours long, which is what is recomended.

Not when there is rain 24/7. Clouds make rain, rain make clouds. It's always cloudy. I think that's why they have way less daylight

 

[Chickn Keaper]

So in the morning, we feed 1 bowl of each feed; (the cup/bowl is about the size of a normal cereal bowl) so 1 bowl of mixed grain, 1 bowl of whole corn, 1 bowl of pellets, and then the big bucket of food scraps in the morning. In the evening, SOMETIMES, we feed just like a handful of each, sometimes less sometimes more.

It seems like you are not feeding them enough and if you're using tractor supply layer feed 16%, Du Mor brand it is very low quality. Purina brand game bird starter is a great choice. I hope that helps))

 

[Chickn Keaper]

Ok thank you.

And again, I don't think the diet plays a big role in the egg production drop we just had because we were feeding the same thing over and over all year. So what else could it be?

Finally the bad food has caught up with you. That is what happened to me.

 

[Strix-Aliana]

I had experimented by keeping them in the coop + run all day and found the same amount of eggs, whether they're free ranging, or not. So that doesn't seem to be the problem.

There are no rodents or animals or bugs in any nests. We check our nest boxes (we have 8) every day for any poop, insects, broken eggs, etc. to ensure that the nests are always clean and the optimal place for a hen to lay.

It could be the heat and humidity because of all the rain.

I think the most obvious one is the sunlight. They definitely don't get enough - not with constant clouds and rain..
I'd like to ask you too: Would supplement light in the coop be beneficial for the coming winter? Because I remember every winter we only get between 2-5 eggs...

It would help them lay more eggs, but I’ve read it isn’t best for them from a health standpoint. I’ve read it can cause them to become egg-bound. Make sure to fact check that because it was just something I read somewhere.