Egg Production way down

[coachhaze]

I wa wondering if there is anything to do to stimulate my hens to lay any more eggs at this time?? Early in Spring had lots and lots of eggs how can I even out the egg production throughout the year?? I use laying mash and scratch feed is there anything else to do?

Thanks for reading this. coachhaze60

 

[hddm3]

Try cutting back on food for 2weeks or until she molts. This may reboot her. hope this helps cheers

 

[TXmom]

There's another thread where many of us were talking about our chickens being on strike. I used to get 6-7 eggs per day, sometimes even 8, but now I'm getting 1 or 2 every other day. I got 1 today, nothing yesterday, 2 the day before. I have 3 Leghorns, but haven't gotten a white egg in over a week. UGH...I don't want to have to go BUY eggs....

The only thing I can think of...especially since it seems to be widespread...is the changing of season...especially the daylight hours, not just the temperature. The days are starting to get shorter, so it might trigger something in them to slow down.

 

[ERnoleGuy]

Are they getting ready to molt?

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
unless you are an EXPERIENCED chicken owner FORCED molts are really a poor choice. and some consider forced molts inhumane. this is an iffy subject. unless you know what you're doing with cutting back on food, this is not good choice in anyway. animals NEED food.

a. chickens need 14 hours of sunlight to stay in laying mode. as the seasons change, so do their laying cycles.

b. the weather messes with laying also. heat and humidity both. as one sets them off, laying can be affected. they can get started and then another weather pattern can get them all whacky again.

it is what it is. they lay when they lay. my theory...get MORE chickens. seriously, i have double the chickens that i want eggs. also, i have chickens that are mature to lay STARTING in winter. that helps too.

 

[TXmom]

OK...I looked it up on Weather.com and it says Sunrise was at 7:03 and Sunset was at 7:46. So they are below the 14 hours of sunlight required.

I was really hoping this was a short-term break, but now this low egg count might last until spring??? I have several different breeds, it seems like some would not be so "sensitive"... I do have 3 pullets who should start laying soon...I hope they don't wait until spring to start...

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
they wont wait until spring to start. they will may not go gangbusters though. i don't know about TX, but here in MI, the weird weather (it has been abnormally cool) has caused ups and downs in the laying for us as well us weird rain, it's just been strange this summer.

with chickens, there is just NO guarantee. it is what it is. my most reliable layers? no joke...mutts!

 

[TXmom]

Well that's good news

Hopefully my 3 will start laying sometime soon, even if just a few per week. Also, I just hatched out 2 "mutts" from my flock, and they should be awesome layers - RIR x Leghorn, and RIR x Buff Orp

Oh, and of course my 10 new chicks from Ideal. Someday, I will have tons and tons of eggs

coachhaze...I'm sorry if I hijacked your thread...hopefully this was helpful information for you, too.