Egg laying stopped after wings were clipped.

[kuntrygirl]

I have about 120 chickens (some not laying yet) and I was getting about 4 dozen eggs per day. I clipped my chickens' wings on Sunday morning and to my surprise, when I went to pick eggs on yesterday (Monday evening), the egg production dropped drastically. You would not believe how many eggs I picked on yesterday. There were only 12 eggs in the nesting boxes.

. Could the clipping of the wings have traumatized them so bad that the were not able to lay any eggs on yesterday? None of the chickens were hurt when I clipped their wings and there was no blood. There is also no chance that something could have gotten in the nesting box house to get the eggs. Has anyone else ever experienced this before? The only thing that I can think that stopped them from laying was clipping their wings. How long do you think this will last? When will they get back on schedule?

I am speechless and baffled. What do you all think? Could clipping their wings have caused them to stop laying?

 

[carrlr]

I know trama or stress can cause them to stop laying, but this seems extreme. Did you clip the wings of your entire flock? Did they struggle alot or are they used to it? When I clip, I only do one wing and it doesn't seem to cause too much reaction on their part. I have to admit, I've never clipped a laying hen. Usually by that time their big enough they don't fly out of my six foot run. If all is else is well, I'd give it a day or so before being too concerned.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Yes, I clipped the wings of the ENTIRE flock. Some struggled a lot and others didn't. I only clipped one wing. I thought it would take longer than it did but it didn't. It took me less than an hour to clip 120 birds. I kept them in their chickens houses and stalls that morning and went around to each living quarter and clipped one chicken at a time and let them out of the chicken house/stall. I had no idea this would cause such a stir. I sell eggs so I have a problem. I won't be able to sell any more eggs until the girls get back on track.

 

[carrlr]

Well, don't beat yourself up. Hopefully it's just a hiccup and your girls will be back on track soon. I know the reasons and benefits of wing clipping. Perhaps in the future you will only do so many at a time. On another note, out of 120 you're getting roughly 48 eggs daily. Is that because more than half are not laying yet? or perhaps there is another underlying issue? Just a thought.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have a lot of older layers (3 years and older) that are not producing like they use to. My hens hatched about 80 baby chicks this year so a lot of them are not of laying age yet. So out of that 120, not many egg layers. I'm trying to build that back up. That's why I"m not getting that many eggs. I can't wait until the young ones grow up.

 

[carrlr]

I know that 5+ months from day olds to layers seems like an eternity. I'm working on a much smaller basis than you. Out of my 12 hens I get an average of 8-9 eggs a day. I'm still waiting on the perfect dozen, 12 eggs from 12 hens in a single day. Although I'm still trying to figure out how I got 16 eggs on Sunday when my 28 YO DD says she collected from them late afternoon on Saturday. Is there such thing as Egg Math?? LOL!!! I'm interested to see if things are back to "normal" for you in a day or two.

 

[squeek61]

Yikes! After reading the posts......We clipped our hens wings the day before yesterday. And, yesterday we only got one egg! The six-pac started laying 09 July 2014; and 5 out of the six were laying. Apparently, clipping wings does traumatize them. Today I am hoping they are back on track

 

[Cspath]

I have a 7 hen flock and who were ALL laying up until I clipped their wings and NOW a month later Iater I have still not gotten an egg. I have tried everything! Different diet, more heat, fresh veg, beef tallow, red pepper flakes Bruding eggs... etc
I sure hope they return to normal soon