General Hen Questions

[Namres]

Hi to all of you out there.

I just started off with some Free Range chickens which I use for laying. At the moment I get about 15 eggs a day with roughly 23 hens.

I have introduced another 20 hens to the flock. At the moment I do not get more eggs though. What could be the reason?

Furthermore I have a whole lot of broody hens now. When will this stop and when will they start laying again? At the moment they sit on NOTHING all day in the chicken house.

In a chicken/hen flock what is the percentage of eggs being laid in regard to total hens kept? Lets say I have 100 hens, on average, how many eggs should I get?

This is it for now. i am sure I have more questions that will follow in this topic.

Cheers and thanks

Namres

 

[Happy Chooks]

Chickens hate change. You've added more hens to the flock, so some are adjusting to that change by not laying. Give a week or 2 and they should be getting used to the new flock and getting the pecking order reestablished.

For broody hens, you need to either let them hatch (which doesn't sound like something you want to do) or break them. (search breaking a broody here and you'll get lots of results) Being broody is a hormonal change and they will continue to sit, even if there isn't anything to sit on. And they won't lay eggs while broody.

As for percentage of eggs to total hens - this will be different for everyone. You'd have to take into account the hens ages, time of year, whether you add light or not, etc. Obviously pullets in their first year will lay more eggs than hens in their 2nd or 3rd year.

 

[Wynette]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=556990