drop in egg production

[jmkoc]

Hi. New to the forum and enjoy reading and learning about chickens from others in the group. I have a flock of 8 hens. They range from 15 to 18 mos old. I was consistently getting 6 or more eggs daily. Even last winter I was still getting around 5 eggs a day. Recently it dropped significantly. Now it is about 2-4 a day. All the hens appear healthy. Their coop is large and they free range all day in a fenced yard with space of approx 75' by 125'. They get egg layer pellets of 20% protein. Same food they have always had since day 1. They get treats of fruit and veggies, but not too much. In short, no change in diet since day one and I do not see any change in amount of food they are going through. As I indicated, they all appear healthy. I know sunlight is less now, but the drop is eggs is significant and much more than last year. The drop started about 4 weeks ago. I suspect it could have initially been stress. I had an incident with 1 of my dogs and 1 hen about a month ago. About the same I saw a hawk in the yard and shortly after I became aware a small racoon was entering the pen area the coop is in at night and eating their food. Pen is locked up, but they may have heard/been aware of predator. I have since altered my grandfather feeder so it is locked at night and made some other changes to the pen and I am confident the racoon is gone. Dog is under a watchful eye and has been very good/leaves them alone (never alone with them!). Once I allowed the dog back outside more consistently (under my watchful eye), the hawk is gone. On 2 or 3 occasions over the past yr+ some of the hens have laid eggs out of the coop in spot they picked in the yard. I have always found the new nest and been able to discourage it and get them back to laying in the coop. Currently I get 1 or 2 eggs a day in a corner of my wood pile and I get 1 or 2 eggs in the coop, but still the production is overall very low.
Any thoughts on if I am correct the low production was stress induced? Any suggestions? How long will it take for them to "relax" and return to normal egg production? Will they or are they scarred and the low production is permanent? Could it be something else? I am planning on adding 4 hens next spring, but would like to address this first. Thanks!

 

[CluckerFamily]

My pullets normally lay through their first winter but then the 2nd autumn/winter, they stop laying until spring.

 

[cinnamoncockatiel]

Egg production drops when there is not enough hours of light for the laying cycle and when the hens molt. Around now.

 

[jmkoc]

Thanks for the feedback. I expect a drop in production with less light, but it is a much more significant drop this year (same hens) and it started about a month ago (before day light savings). That is why I suspect it may be stress related (maybe combined with less light).

 

[aart]

I expect a drop in production with less light, but it is a much more significant drop this year (same hens)

They range from 15 to 18 mos old.

They are having their first adult molt.

and it started about a month ago (before day light savings).

Chickens don't follow our clocks, nor does the sun/earth.
Days started shortening in June.
Most adult birds will stop laying and start molting anywhere from late August to December.

 

[Hei 20]

Hi. New to the forum and enjoy reading and learning about chickens from others in the group. I have a flock of 8 hens. They range from 15 to 18 mos old. I was consistently getting 6 or more eggs daily. Even last winter I was still getting around 5 eggs a day. Recently it dropped significantly. Now it is about 2-4 a day. All the hens appear healthy. Their coop is large and they free range all day in a fenced yard with space of approx 75' by 125'. They get egg layer pellets of 20% protein. Same food they have always had since day 1. They get treats of fruit and veggies, but not too much. In short, no change in diet since day one and I do not see any change in amount of food they are going through. As I indicated, they all appear healthy. I know sunlight is less now, but the drop is eggs is significant and much more than last year. The drop started about 4 weeks ago. I suspect it could have initially been stress. I had an incident with 1 of my dogs and 1 hen about a month ago. About the same I saw a hawk in the yard and shortly after I became aware a small racoon was entering the pen area the coop is in at night and eating their food. Pen is locked up, but they may have heard/been aware of predator. I have since altered my grandfather feeder so it is locked at night and made some other changes to the pen and I am confident the racoon is gone. Dog is under a watchful eye and has been very good/leaves them alone (never alone with them!). Once I allowed the dog back outside more consistently (under my watchful eye), the hawk is gone. On 2 or 3 occasions over the past yr+ some of the hens have laid eggs out of the coop in spot they picked in the yard. I have always found the new nest and been able to discourage it and get them back to laying in the coop. Currently I get 1 or 2 eggs a day in a corner of my wood pile and I get 1 or 2 eggs in the coop, but still the production is overall very low.
Any thoughts on if I am correct the low production was stress induced? Any suggestions? How long will it take for them to "relax" and return to normal egg production? Will they or are they scarred and the low production is permanent? Could it be something else? I am planning on adding 4 hens next spring, but would like to address this first. Thanks!