Help babys not laying

[beck77]

My speckled suxs are not laying they were laying 12 to 18 a day I have 20 hens and 2 roos but this past week they have only been laying 4 to 6 a day????

 

[gumpsgirl]

Is the weather getting hot where you are? Egg production will drop when the temps. rise outside.

Another possibility is molting. Are they getting ready to go into a molt or mini-molt by chance?

One other thing to look at is their water. Are they getting enough to drink?

All of those things can and will affect egg laying.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This might give you some ideas in addition to gumpsgirl's suggestions.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1097/2902-1097.pdf

 

[beck77]

Thank you They will be one on June 20

, and it has been hot here are there any thing I can do to help them they are in the shad most of the day I did cut off there light about 2 week ago would that have any thing to do with it

 

[gumpsgirl]

You shouldn't need to provide a light for them this time of year. There are definitely more than enough hours of daylight now.

Just be certain they have enough to drink and that they are getting enough to eat. If you are feeding them scratch, I'd take that away altogether as they don't need those extra calories because of the heat right now.

Everyone's chickens start slowing down when it gets hot, so don't worry yourself to much.

 

[milleryardchx]

I just put a fan in my coop up high so no one can get hurt open the windows from some more airflow it cut the heat way down and egg production is back up in our coop. but now none of them want to go out to forage they stay in all day staying cool haha chicken AC

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
I have a fan in my coop too and sure didn't think about giving that out as a suggestion! Thanks for adding that!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
It could. If you decrease the length of light they get it can cause a molt even if they are still seeing over 12 hours of daylight. Any change can induce stress. Any stress can reduce egg laying and could start a molt. It is very likely the heat or some other explanation, but you might look for signs of molting as another possible explanation.