Egg Production Way Down From A Week Ago Plz Help

[BlaineWillard]

ok i have a problem i got about 20 hens and they have been laying about 10 eggs aday until last week they only have been laying about 2 eggs aday now. But what i dont get is nothing has changed with them. They have plenty of food and water. They have not been moved. The only thing i can think of is the cooler weather. It has been getting down to the 60's at night and usually up in the 70's or 80's in the day. I would like to hear everyones advice about this issuse it has me stumped.

 

[BlaineWillard]

looks like i might need to order some chicks for next year if these want start laying. Some of them is a year old and a few of them are younger.

 

[Beckyinma]

Could it be the shorter days? They say that chickens need about 14 hours of light to lay regularly.

 

[BlaineWillard]

i went out to the coop a few minutes ago and they are just kind of standing around and not walking around like the usually do.

 

[BlaineWillard]

i went out to the coop a few minutes ago and they are just kind of standing around and not walking around like the usually do.

 

[BlaineWillard]

i went out to the coop a few minutes ago and they are just kind of standing around and not walking around like the usually do.

 

[BlaineWillard]

so should i put a light out there on a timer? What time should i have it come on and what time should it go off

 

[CMV]

Some hens are really affected by the shorter days, but some are not. I have several different kinds of production birds to ensure that I get at least some eggs in the winter. What breeds of birds do you have? And how old are they? This is the time of year you start seeing your 1.5-2 year old hens molting. The first sign this is coming on is a sharp decrease in egg production. If your birds are getting ready to go into a hard molt then you will not be seeing any eggs for a while. If neither of the aforementioned scenarios apply to your situation, then I would be doing a bug check on the birds. A heavy lode of lice/mites can take a serious toll on your egg production.

Hope this helped. Good luck.

 

[BlaineWillard]

ok i just went out and checked the chickens for bugs. They got little bugs under there feathers. How can i get rid of them? I bought several hens a couple months ago could they have brought the bugs into my flock? I guess i need to start check the birds i buy more carefully. You where right about them having bugs CMV thanks for the help.

 

[PunkinPeep]

It sounds like either lice or mites. You need to determine which. Mites live in your coop, so they are harder to get rid of. Lice can be taken care of pretty easily with a dustbath and some poultry dust. After i discovered lice on my girls, i set up two dust baths for them, with d.e., wood ash, sand, and poultry dust. I knew it was lice because of the white knits on the base of the feathers by the vent. It took about a day before i couldn't find anymore lice knits at all.