Decreased egg laying - why?

[Charlene]

My two hens are just over a year old. Last year they each laid about 6 eggs per week. Then of course it fell off to more like 4-5 in the winter.

The weird thing is it is still slow. I am only getting 2 eggs a day one out of three days (the other two days I'll get one usually). I am worried that there is something wrong.

I assuming they are not hiding them (they are free range) since there are occasionally two eggs in a day. One hen has scratched a bare patch on the side of her neck about 1 inch square. It seems to be slowly getting bigger. I didn't think much of it when I noticed it a month or so ago, but could this be a symptom of a problem? If so what do I do????

Are there any other reasons their egg laying would be slow or other reasons you can think of as to why I am getting so few eggs? My hens seems happy and healthy, they are BR's.

One more thing, I did get three new chickens (only 3 months old) that I recently started to let free range also. Could they be upsetting the hens?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sometimes varying egg production just happens. Sometimes there is a reason. You can check this link and see if you see any possibilities. From what you describe, it does not sound like an egg-eater or an egg eating predator. Are they fully recovered from the molt, maybe? You might try feeding them a little more protein if this is the case.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/poultry/factsheets/34.html

Good luck!!

 

[cmom]

The change by adding more birds can affect their egg laying. Actually any changes in their lives can affect their egg production.