egg production

[Mountain Bear]

22 weeks, 5 hens 3 roosters and only one layer. Do roosters prevent, or slow down the production of eggs? I have raised these 8 chicks together in an open coop. Could the roosters be interfering too much?. They unfortunately do NOT have access to outside so there are no hidden eggs. I know for certain which hen is laying, unless they are all laying intermitently. I have average about 1 egg every 3 days for the past 3 weeks. We also have just gone thru a 1 weeks heat wave (about 85-90).
Is there anything else that would cause a slow or low egg production?

 

[ChickNhood]

Your hens may be stressed due to the uneven ratio of roosters to hens...i wouldconsider culling a couple roos

 

[SunnyAlberta]

Heat and stress will slow production. I just got my first egg from my 24 week old Buff Orpington today. What breed(s) do you have?

 

[lynnR]

Make sure you have no egg-eaters. If the cockerels are giving the hens a hard time then the girlies may be too stressed to lay. 22 weeks I assume is their age? If so it may just be that they are simply not ready to lay yet and will start soon enough. The heat wave will have stressed them a bit too.

 

[Mountain Bear]

Thanks for your replies. They are just 22 weeks, I know this could be the starting age. I will be keeping all three roosters, even though I have notice them playing "piggy back" a fair bit. The three are RIR, SLW, and Barred Rock and I would like the option of breeding them later since the hens are the same breeds. Looks like I will be building a new coop to keep rooster in.