Egg laying ? please help!!!

[above the falls farm]

I have 10 barred rock hens. Just a few weeks ago they were laying 10+ eggs a day. They are just over 6 months old. I know they will slow down egglaying when it warms up but they have stopped. 3 days ago 5 eggs, 2 days ago 1 egg, 1 day ago 0, today 0. Is this normal? I am in the hot south however located in the mountains it stays pretty cool. They also have plenty of shade and room to roam. Any ideas???

 

[gryeyes]

"Room to roam." Hmmmm... as in free ranging, not just in a run? Bet they've found someplace ELSE to lay eggs!

Sneaky pullet!

And she talked another one into sharing that nest....

 

[burquechick]

They may just be falling on the same cycle in egg production. I bet in a couple days they will put out 5 eggs again. Seems like each bird will lay about 3 eggs a week. And, yes, it might be too hot for them. They can hold off for a couple of days if they really don't feel like laying. Give 'em a week or two and see if they don't improve, then maybe worry about an infection.

 

[burquechick]

Quote:
Also a good point!

 

[above the falls farm]

Do not "think" emphasis on think, that they are laying anywhere else. They are in a 250 square foot dog run behind the house. I have walked the entire lot in a grid pattern and no eggs. None under the coop either. Other than grass and coop there is nothing else out there.

 

[epitidios]

Since i saw this topic i have one more question. Two of my chickens are old enough to lays eggs and four will pretty soon old enough to start laying. So far i am getting on average 1 egg every other day. I have two nests and i am trying to keep the coop as clean as possible. One day i found a very small egg that was layed outside the coop.... Any ideas why i don't get eggs on a daily basis?

 

[above the falls farm]

Me or my wife one are here all day. The chickens are close to the house to. No wierd noises during the day to indicate a predator. At nigth they are looked up in the coop "fort knox". So I do not "think" it is predators either. Once again emphasis on think.

 

[above the falls farm]

Number of egg on a daily basis leads to numerous questions as I have been trying to work through it now myself. It can be dependent on breed, age, weather, nutrition, stress, disease, infection.... and probably any more things I have not thought of yet.

 

[burquechick]

Well, I can tell you, I get wild swings in egg production throughout the year. This past winter I was lucky if I got 2 eggs a week from 11 hens. This spring I was knee deep in eggs, 5-6, sometimes 9 a day. And starting just a few weeks ago, I've been only getting 2 or 3 a day. They never seem to lay as much again as they do in their first year of laying. Also, it seems that when they first start laying, they lay in spurts, like their bodies are still getting used to the whole idea. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you start getting really strange looking eggs after this, then it might be an indication of some infection (which usually won't stop production altogether).

 

[epitidios]

When i get eggs they are double yolk ones. So in a way it makes that i don't get eggs every day. But then from what i see only one of the two lays eggs. The other is really lazy and as my mum says she will end up as a soup....