Chickens not laying

[BorneHomestead]

We had one of our hens pass back in March. At first our other three held out and did not lay. They are laying again, but only 1 egg a day. Some days they do not lay any but at least doing every other day. I want to make sure I am feeding them the right foods. They eat layer feed. They do have some scratch to graze on. I give them lettuce in the morning and evening. They get scrambled eggs every 3 days. I did have some oyster shell but will have to get more later. They love vienna sausages so get that as a treat every now and then. Trying to figure out if it's their diet or something else. They are molting some. Noticed the feathers on the ground. Any advise will be helpful

to help hens through their molt you can increase their protein some to help aid in regrowing their feathers. black oil sunflower seeds, tuna, beans, scrambled eggs, even cat food. they should still get their regular feed and use the items mentioned as treats.

 

[BorneHomestead]

Thank you borne homestead for your reply to my post. You are probably exactly right. We have been seeing a lot of feathers, but not enough to have any exposed skin anywhere on the chickens. Guess that is why I didn't think about the possibility of molting. But, it has been going on for so long....goodness. I will be giving them more protein to help them out. Grit has an ad from Nutrena regarding a feed they make to aide during molt. I'll be looking for that, too.

molting can last anywhere from 10 weeks to 6 months, it depends on the hen. some can go through it fast and others slow.

 

[gummybear24]

Mine are starting to get back in the swing of things. My Light Brahmas though are molting again. So they haven't started back up. This has been a very weird year. Talked to a lot of breeders and they have been going through the same thing this year. All but 1 hen out of 30 are from this years hatch. Seems like there molting every other day. But they will start back. no worries.

Plus from raising layers for years now, between summer and fall ( when daylight hours lower) and between winter and spring (when daylight increases) they always slow way down or stop until the daylight hours even up. You have to remember that in the summer, at least mine, they would lay from 8am til almost 9pm. so you figure now it's getting dark at 7pm. so they just lost 2 hours of light. So the hens that layed later in the day are now all screwed up. You have to just let them get straightened out with the daylight hours.

If you start thinking it's feed and changing there feed you will screw them up even more. If they were laying all summer with the feed you had, it's not the feed!!! Sorry, but they are not going to say all of a sudden, I don't like this feed and I'm not laying any more. Right!! Trust me, it's the change of the daylight hours.

I just wanted to make sure they were getting the adequate vitamins and proteins they needed. Had not planned on changing the layer feed. Just anything that may promote egg laying. That makes sense on daylight issue. Thanks for the advise

 

[gummybear24]

to help hens through their molt you can increase their protein some to help aid in regrowing their feathers. black oil sunflower seeds, tuna, beans, scrambled eggs, even cat food. they should still get their regular feed and use the items mentioned as treats.

Thanks so much for tips