- Sep 25, 2012
- 22
- 0
- 22
Hello all,
I will try to keep this as short as possible and still give as much information as I can. I am a fairly new chicken owner with a problem. We are just not getting eggs. We are slowly checking off any changing variables to see if we start to get results.
Here is all the information that i can give as of now.
Flock size: 7 hens, 4 pullets.
Run area: 30' x 10' with an enclosed roosting house (we use the deep litter method in the house)
Watering: 1 gallon automatic system with three chicken nipples (with added organic apple cider vinegar). I know they are drinking regularly because it is cleaned and topped off daily.
Feed: Chicken feeder with 3lbs of feed (pellets/crumbles/and a small bit of scratch) available throughout the day. This however was an issue prior to this week. Being a novice i did not know how much my birds should be eating. They were getting about a quarter of what they should have been.
Light: We are still on a natural light cycle which here in Florida is 12hrs right now. I am going today to purchase a timer and light so we can give a consistent 16hrs of light.
Temperature: We are averaging 70 during the day and 50 at night right now.
Disease/Bugs: I have checked over the flock and there are no signs of mites or disease. All birds have had vaccines.
The part of all this that is really confusing is the five hens we just recently acquired were laying everyday. We acquired these hens about three weeks ago. Since then they have all but stopped. Our two hens that we have had the longest still produce about an egg a day. But not consistently. Our pullets are not old enough yet to produce eggs. So in total we get about two eggs a day out of seven laying hens.
Any suggestions on possible problems or solutions? My poor wife is ready to give up on the hens. But i keep assuring her that they will start laying strong. Thanks.
I will try to keep this as short as possible and still give as much information as I can. I am a fairly new chicken owner with a problem. We are just not getting eggs. We are slowly checking off any changing variables to see if we start to get results.
Here is all the information that i can give as of now.
Flock size: 7 hens, 4 pullets.
Run area: 30' x 10' with an enclosed roosting house (we use the deep litter method in the house)
Watering: 1 gallon automatic system with three chicken nipples (with added organic apple cider vinegar). I know they are drinking regularly because it is cleaned and topped off daily.
Feed: Chicken feeder with 3lbs of feed (pellets/crumbles/and a small bit of scratch) available throughout the day. This however was an issue prior to this week. Being a novice i did not know how much my birds should be eating. They were getting about a quarter of what they should have been.
Light: We are still on a natural light cycle which here in Florida is 12hrs right now. I am going today to purchase a timer and light so we can give a consistent 16hrs of light.
Temperature: We are averaging 70 during the day and 50 at night right now.
Disease/Bugs: I have checked over the flock and there are no signs of mites or disease. All birds have had vaccines.
The part of all this that is really confusing is the five hens we just recently acquired were laying everyday. We acquired these hens about three weeks ago. Since then they have all but stopped. Our two hens that we have had the longest still produce about an egg a day. But not consistently. Our pullets are not old enough yet to produce eggs. So in total we get about two eggs a day out of seven laying hens.
Any suggestions on possible problems or solutions? My poor wife is ready to give up on the hens. But i keep assuring her that they will start laying strong. Thanks.
Thanks
