Got a major OH OH! Need advice please!

[nmegger]

Bought 10 ladies (various breeds-they grew up together) almost 2 months ago, ages vary from 1-2 years, came from a good ranch, had been laying regular from what I understand. Here at their new home, they have a huge fenced in area to free roam, feed em scratch & crumbles (same diet as before) and of course the wife feeds the girls all kinds of treats, seem to be healthy & active, spend the evenings in their coop, let out in their yard about 6:30 am til approx 8-8:30pm but yet still hardly no eggs!

If we're lucky, we'll get 2-4 eggs MAYBE every other day. They respond to us well now, they come running when we enter their yard.

Shouldn't we be by now getting on a average per day between 8-10 eggs?

We do one thing different than their old home, there they had a interior light 24/7 to help laying (guy was selling eggs) here, no light at night. OH YEA! We had to get rid of the rooster too.. he was tearing em up too bad.

Any input will sure be appreciated.

Larry in NM

 

[DianeS]

I would check the area where they get to free-range VERY CAREFULLY. It's possible they are laying, just not in the nest boxes. You may find a clutch (or more than one) in a corner or under a bush.

I would also consider the possibility of egg eating predators. Perhaps a snake; they eat the eggs without leaving any eggshells around. If you find any eggshell bits, though, you could have egg-eating chickens or other predators.

Without the light, have any of them started to molt? Going from a lighted environment to a natural environment with less light, I wonder if they think it's winter. If they have started molting at all, that could be the cause. And molting/stopping laying because of winter means no eggs until the "winter" is over.

So, three possible causes I can think of. Hope they help you!

 

[nmegger]

Morning & thanks for your reply. The girls free range area is pretty open, not much chances to "hide" eggs, because we keep them from their coop during the day, we have found a couple of eggs in the yard. We do have snakes though, living here in the desert we have to watch out for bull snakes & 2 kinds on rattlers.
Being a newbie, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "molting"? I do know when we had the rooster he tore them up pretty good so feathers are growing in.

Hmmm... still stumped.

Again, thanks for your help

Larry

 

[Habibs Hens]

molting is a winter usually thing for birds

where they shed all old feather and grow new ones

like a snake shedding skin

it can take hens days, weeks or months to fully shed

and in that time they stop laying

 

[Happy Chooks]

Any kind of stress can induce a molt. They should not have light 24/7 - this time of year it's not even necessary for light. You normally add light in winter when the days are short to make 14 hours of "sunlight" so their productions stays up. I do not light my coops, I prefer them to have the break, even if it means less eggs. Any change to their normal routine can cause stress which can cause them to quit laying, and in some cases trigger a molt.

Molting is where birds lose their feathers and replace them. This typically occurs every year in the fall for chickens over 12 months old. They do not lay eggs while molting, they need all their protein reserves to grow feathers. Old, tattered feathers cannot keep them warm. Sometimes it's a mild molt and all you notice is they look raggedy or are missing tail feathers. Sometimes they have a hard molt and look like this:

 

[drohan]

I am betting that the problem is that you are keeping them from their coop during the day. Open the coop and see if they won't go in to lay their eggs. Our nesting boxes are inside the coop and it stays open all day. Check the coop for a clutch of eggs. I thought mine were not laying, then I found a clutch behind a dog porter that I was using as a brooder. They have gone back to laying their eggs in the nest boxes. If they were allowed to lay their eggs in the coop at the ranch, this might be your problem. It's worth a shot!

 

[justacouplemorechicks]

I was thinking the same thing about not having access to the coop. My girls get VERY UNHAPPY

if they can't get back in the coop to lay their eggs.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I am betting that the problem is that you are keeping them from their coop during the day. Open the coop and see if they won't go in to lay their eggs. Our nesting boxes are inside the coop and it stays open all day. Check the coop for a clutch of eggs. I thought mine were not laying, then I found a clutch behind a dog porter that I was using as a brooder. They have gone back to laying their eggs in the nest boxes. If they were allowed to lay their eggs in the coop at the ranch, this might be your problem. It's worth a shot!

Oh yeah, I missed that part. They definitely need access to the coop!