Extremely Low Production

[sunnysideohio]

We have not seen anything like this before.
18 laying hens. 3 of those are broody, 2 of the broody are completely isolated to their own small coop.
In addition to the 18, 11 new hens, just starting to lay their first eggs in the last 2 weeks.
We are getting fewer than 10 eggs per day on average from the 18 mature hens. We HAD been getting 12-16 eggs per day.

It's a mixed flock, both in breed and bird age. The oldest laying hens are 3 years old, just 4 out of the 18.
We have plenty of places to lay eggs, at least 9 egg boxes, spread out over 4 buildings in the chicken yard.

What the HECK is going on here??

The young hen eggs I am not counting in the above totals. They are little, practice eggs for now, getting probably 4 of those per day in addition to the meager 5, 6 or 7 mature eggs. Seems ridiculous.

 

[SkyAJK]

You might like to visit this thread - How Many Eggs Did You Get Today, below is the link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-many-eggs-did-you-get-today.120083/

I have flock of 13 and for various reasons only 2 eggs a day. I have had various conversations with my hens that their rent is due and in arrear, but ...

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I find my hens usually have an egg production slump when it gets really hot out. I remember having like a dozen hens and getting one or two eggs a day for weeks

 

[nuthatched]

It could be heat or summer molt.

 

[C Siena]

We have not seen anything like this before.
18 laying hens. 3 of those are broody, 2 of the broody are completely isolated to their own small coop.
In addition to the 18, 11 new hens, just starting to lay their first eggs in the last 2 weeks.
We are getting fewer than 10 eggs per day on average from the 18 mature hens. We HAD been getting 12-16 eggs per day.

It's a mixed flock, both in breed and bird age. The oldest laying hens are 3 years old, just 4 out of the 18.
We have plenty of places to lay eggs, at least 9 egg boxes, spread out over 4 buildings in the chicken yard.

What the HECK is going on here??

The young hen eggs I am not counting in the above totals. They are little, practice eggs for now, getting probably 4 of those per day in addition to the meager 5, 6 or 7 mature eggs. Seems ridiculous.

I'm thinking of a few things. Have you made any changes in the past couple of weeks? Adding anything, removing anything, change of feed.

Do they free range and possibly are laying elsewhere. I found 2 nests with 9 in one and 6 in another.

I think avg hens produce 10% +/-, after they are 2-3 years old. Decline continues each year for many breeds.

Our 17 layers went from 12-16 a day to 8-11/12 for about 3-4 weeks. It started when the cicadas emerged and they were gorging on them and not eating as much feed. We also had 15 young chicks in a cage in one coop.

My thoughts are it was different nutrition and lack of something in diet. After the 3-4 weeks, no more cicadas and they began to lay average 12-14 daily. 6 of the hens turned 2 in mid May.

I'm not sure but thought I would add what happened to us.