We were free-ranging our chickens since spring. We were getting around 18 eggs a day. Of course we had about 24 hens and 2 roosters, but have lost some to heat and hawks.
Now we have 15 1 year old hens and 1 rooster. The 13 little ladies should be laying anyday (born in May). I had thought the older hens were starting to "forget" to lay in the nice nesting boxes, so this past week we've kept everyone in the coop and run. Plenty of food, water and treats. Still only 6 eggs a day. I guess I should say that most of the hens are BO, while 2 are comets and 2 are barred rocks. We live in Ohio where the weather has been nice for fall, and I don't see signs of molting. Not sure when to expect that, but I was thinking cold weather.
One other concern we had was that a neighbor dog (or mine) was sneaking in and eating the eggs. They don't have access to them now. We did have some garter snakes under the coop, but my dh says they are too little to eat the eggs.
I would appreciate any possible idea you might have. Thanks in advance.
BTW- we've been feeding 18% layer for about a month to all the chickens. Before we combined them, the "babies" were getting the 23% starter and sometimes the older girls would go into the younger coop and eat the food. I don't know how this would influence egg production.
Now we have 15 1 year old hens and 1 rooster. The 13 little ladies should be laying anyday (born in May). I had thought the older hens were starting to "forget" to lay in the nice nesting boxes, so this past week we've kept everyone in the coop and run. Plenty of food, water and treats. Still only 6 eggs a day. I guess I should say that most of the hens are BO, while 2 are comets and 2 are barred rocks. We live in Ohio where the weather has been nice for fall, and I don't see signs of molting. Not sure when to expect that, but I was thinking cold weather.
One other concern we had was that a neighbor dog (or mine) was sneaking in and eating the eggs. They don't have access to them now. We did have some garter snakes under the coop, but my dh says they are too little to eat the eggs.
I would appreciate any possible idea you might have. Thanks in advance.
BTW- we've been feeding 18% layer for about a month to all the chickens. Before we combined them, the "babies" were getting the 23% starter and sometimes the older girls would go into the younger coop and eat the food. I don't know how this would influence egg production.
