Egg production is down

[Awestruck]

My girls are not putting out. Very low egg production.
What is your best advice for a
No Egg Winter.

I’ve had chickens since 2017. Every year, except the first year of their laying, they stop laying or the amount of eggs is greatly reduced. I only got 1 egg today (I have 11 hens). All of my Easter Eggers have stopped laying. If everything goes the way it normally does, they should be laying again in January, and it will probably pick up to getting 6-8 eggs a day, once again. I’ve been feeding them Feather Fixer, which seemed to help last year. I’ll see how well it does this year.
I forgot to mention that usually chickens molt during this time of year. Out of all mine that are not laying right now, only one actually looks like she is molting. I am assuming they all are though, because they are not laying like they normally do.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Molting is right! All my teenagers are in their 3-month molt but of course too young to lay. And my OG, 1 and 2 yo's, well the coop looks like there was a chicken explosion in there, lol. Feathers everywhere! But the only chicken that looks like she flew through a tornado is poor Winnie. One or two others are obviously molting but much more gracefully. I got 3 ggs today (15 layers), mostly I'm getting 1 or 2. They are on 20% protein. Whattaya gonna do?

 

[FrostRanger]

The only way to never have a no-egg winter is to replace the older hens with new pullets every year.

Even that's not guaranteed 'cause some pullets molt their first fall. 6 out of 7 of my current flock did. Adding pullets every year or 2 is still a good idea as you're more likely to at least get some eggs in the cold months

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My pullets all hatched July 1 of this year. They will be 6 months old on New Year's Day. If any of them are laying at that time, I will certainly post about it, either in this thread or one of my own. You'd better believe I will be crowing about it, lol!

 

[Clukcluks]

I think that's a terrible idea, tbh. Feed them the all-flock feed or whatever you are giving them that has the 20% protein in it. I don't understand what you mean by "18% scratch." You should only be providing them about a Tbsp of scratch for each hen, or it should not be more than 10% of their total feed on any given day. It's a treat. So just like you would only give a small amount of ice cream to a child, you should only give your chickens a small amount of scratch. As another poster said, they do not need calcium if they are not laying. So if you put a bowl or other vessel of oyster shell in your coop, the hens that need it will take what they need, and the chickens that are not actively laying will leave it alone. Don't worry if it looks like they are not eating it, it doesn't take much to supply their needs. If you supply a good commercial feed, oyster shell and grit, along with clean fresh water, you are a rock star chicken keeper!

Thank You . I am doing exactly what your last sentence in your response says No more, no less.
Do you have any thoughts on what I should be doing to prepare my girls for a cold winter here in Adelanto, Ca. High Desert.

 

[FrostRanger]

Thank You . I am doing exactly what your last sentence in your response says No more, no less.
Do you have any thoughts on what I should be doing to prepare my girls for a cold winter here in Adelanto, Ca. High Desert.

Main thing is make sure the coop has at least 1sqft of draft free ventilation per bird and the coop is at least 4sqft per bird. Due to longer nights they will be spending more time in the coop and if the coop is too small that can bring out some nasty behaviors. If there's not enough ventilation moisture can build up and cause frostbite (moisture is far more dangerous than the cold itself). Also have a way to make sure the water doesn't freeze and collect eggs more often if temps are going to stay below freezing. Otherwise business as usual

 

[Clukcluks]

Main thing is make sure the coop has at least 1sqft of draft free ventilation per bird and the coop is at least 4sqft per bird. Due to longer nights they will be spending more time in the coop and if the coop is too small that can bring out some nasty behaviors. If there's not enough ventilation moisture can build up and cause frostbite (moisture is far more dangerous than the cold itself). Also have a way to make sure the water doesn't freeze and collect eggs more often if temps are going to stay below freezing. Otherwise business as usual

I'm not sure if my mathematics is correct but, I have a sml 4'x4'x5'tall coop. I only have 5girls. It looks like they all have a spot where they roost comfortably nightly

 

[FrostRanger]

I'm not sure if my mathematics is correct but, I have a sml 4'x4'x5'tall coop. I only have 5girls. It looks like they all have a spot where they roost comfortably nightly

That is small, only 16 sqft which is large enough for 4. The issue isn't when they are settled in, but when they are settling in and getting up. If nothing else even if they are getting along fine you will almost certainly want to add new birds later and integration is when you really really want more than enough room