Egg production way down..

[Smithyard Farm]

Hello everyone -

I have 12 hens.. 6 NH reds, 2 white leghorns, 1 brown leghorn, and 2 barred rocks.. my egg production went for 8-9 a day to 1-3...

I haven't had a white egg in a week... SO i know the leghorns are not laying, but can not tll which other ones are or are not.....

I did add a silkie to the mix recently.. she is much younger and not laying yet. could this be stressing them out? will they eventually get used to her? is there anything else I can do? Should I take the silkie back out? they all seem hate her... feed and water have been about the same... can they develope issues form not laying? help!

 

[Chicks on DL]

How old are they? Are they molting? Have you checked for mites? Worms? Adding a new addition to the flock can stress them out but eventually (takes a couple months) they will get used to the silkie and she will be at the bottom of the pecking order. I have noticed that I needed to have two feeders for my four hens because the top hen sometimes won't let the others eat. A second feeder has eliminated this problem and production has increased.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

the oplder ones are 8-9 months - to young to be molting I think. I checked for bugs about a week or so ago.. didn't see any, and i do use DE in the coop... not sure how to tell for worms....

 

[Chicks on DL]

I would put ACV in their water and maybe offer them some extra protein to see if you can stimulate production. When my Buff stopped laying it was because she was stressed and I put the gloves on and checked the poop in the coop for worms. She also mottled slightly. Give it some time for things to settle down. I hope someone with more experience has more insight. I wish you luck.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, adding the silkie can throw off their laying for a bit. Chickens hate change, so any change no matter how minor, can affect their laying.

And as for molting, I have had a few 9 month old girls molt before. It's usually a very minor molt, like just losing their tail feathers.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

thanks for the suggestions. I currently use the ACV, but I did start adding protien to the mix... for the last 5 days I have been suplementing the layer food with a mixture of cat food, scratch and oats, along with some of the younger chick feed. This morning I had 9 eggs.... (including 3 white ones!) Yea!!

should I continue adding the cat food.. or kinda ween them off it?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Cat food has a lot of sodium, so I'd wean them off as soon as you can.