Egg production lately

[Mrs. K]

We have had TWO days with appreciable sunlight since the year began. I'm slow and sluggish too. I keep thinking that every dozen eggs I buy at the store will be the last one. I probably gotta buy at least one more.

I keep thinking that every dozen eggs I buy at the store will be the last one. I probably gotta buy at least one more.

I AM SO WITH YOU!!!! COME ON GIRLS

 

[Hardknockshomestead]

I AM SO WITH YOU!!!! COME ON GIRLS

I've also had very low egg numbers, starting early summer of 2022. We've tried everything. Free choice feed (16% layer pellets), free choice Poultrycal oystershell, good water 24/7, ventilation fan and opened windows in summer, ventilation windows but no drafts in winter, large, grassy, sunny plus partially shaded, fenced free-range area for 3 seasons and a smaller, sunny, snow-cleared fenced area in winter.
They have ample roosting space at a correct height, 9 nesting boxes at various heights for 27 hens, one gentle rooster, no predator pressure, and timer lights providing 16 hours/day of light. We give them occasional kitchen scraps and in winter, most days, a few handfuls of veggies such as spinach leaves, mixed baby lettuce, tomato, pepper ends, and we cut up whole winter squash and throw them in, seeds and all, about once a week.

We can't think of anything else. Heck, I would want to be here if I were a chicken!

I might be wearing a tinfoil hat here, but I'm wondering if maybe, somehow, all the endocrine disruptors in our environment are finding their way into the grains in commercial chicken feed. Other than that, I'm at a loss!

 

[WallyG74]

Y’all may stone me, but my chickens are laying great! I just collected 22 this evening.

 

[WallyG74]

Had a late one… 23

 

[Mrs. K]

WallyG74

Oh! you lucky dog! I am wishing and wishing and wishing every time I go down there!

We did have a spell of heat last summer - weeks over 105, several days over 112. I don't know if that slowed it down or not.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I get my feed from a local mill. I haven’t gotten an egg since November. I wouldn’t fall under the allure of a conspiracy theory. They’re certainly interesting, but I think they melt our brains a bit.

 

[Hardknockshomestead]

WallyG74

Oh! you lucky dog! I am wishing and wishing and wishing every time I go down there!

We did have a spell of heat last summer - weeks over 105, several days over 112. I don't know if that slowed it down or not.

I get my feed from a local mill. I haven’t gotten an egg since November. I wouldn’t fall under the allure of a conspiracy theory. They’re certainly interesting, but I think they melt our brains a bit.

Lol!
Thing is, it's not completely farfetched. Antibiotics, birth control hormones, pesticides-all have been found in many locations in the water supply here in the USA.
That being said, you may very well be right.
It IS winter here, and there are SO many other factors that can influence egg laying!

 

[LizzzyJo]

Lol!
Thing is, it's not completely farfetched. Antibiotics, birth control hormones, pesticides-all have been found in many locations in the water supply here in the USA.
That being said, you may very well be right.
It IS winter here, and there are SO many other factors that can influence egg laying!

I think we should all take our time in being suspicious, but also inquisitive. It’s great to be aware and interested in researching topics that are important to us (with peer reviewed sources). Then again, I am also a scientist by profession.

 

[charlie1051]

Still using Dumor and haven't had any issues but we play them encouraging, uplifting music and offer incentives when weekly egg quotas are met.

 

[Sally PB]

we play them encouraging, uplifting music and offer incentives when weekly egg quotas are met

How do you explain the incentive to the chickens? I've tried this.

Me: Lark, I'll give you extra mealworms if you start laying by this Sunday.
Lark: Pecks my finger for the little bit of spinach on it.

Me: Middle, if you start laying by Sunday, I give you your own TABLESPOON of BOSS.
Middle: Sees nothing in my fingers, toddles away.

Me: May, will you start laying soon? Please? I'll get out the bone broth scrap snack.
May: Wanders off.

I'm at a loss as to how to persuade them to get back to it. Incentives don't seem to work.