Help! My Chickens have not laid eggs in several Months~

[Dbendell]

I have a small flock of 3 hens. I feed them layer feed and mix in 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh/frozen/canned corn. When it's very cold I mix in cooked chicken liver for extra protein. I tried giving them chicken calcium but they mostly left it untouched, so now I mix 1/4 tsp bone meal in with the food/corn mix. For treats I give them bread, which they love, or fruit and vegetable scraps which are hit and miss. They love watermelon and strawberries and lettuce. Other fruits and vegetables they may or may not be interested. Sometimes they peck holes in their eggs, so I don't give them eggshells or eggs. My hens came with my house when I bought it, so I don't know how old they are, probably at least 2 years. Last summer I got at least an egg a day, sometimes three. Now that it's winter I get maybe an egg or two per week. Since they are older I don't try to stimulate more production, I am happy for whatever they are able to produce.

 

[Mary Chapman]

I feed mine layer crumbles (3/4) and whole corm (1/4) I've been raising chickens all my life. I have used the light idea and it never worked for my girls. Also you may want to put the light on a timer and they need some dark in order to get some sleep. Feeding scrambled eggs is a great way to give them protein. Chickens are scavengers. But but they also need some grains. Every winter mine will stop laying the entire winter. I do have a Black Jersey Giant hen that will lay one about once a week. And I have 13 chickens (Malay, Jersey Giant, and Black Copper Maran) 10 geese, 4 call ducks, 1 Muscovy, 1 Cayuga, and 3 Red Golden Pheasants.

 

[WindingRoad]

Will do @ChocolateMouse . I Don't know why anyone would say something like that and it be not helpful but possibly harmful to our birds. I would never do anything that would hurt them knowingly and I will be correcting my mistakes right away you can bet that! I will do one or that other (layer feed or add the free choice calcium). I knew they went through molting, but what is winter depression? As far as the light goes I will start cutting it off at night or leaving it off for good if that is what is best for them. I had just seen so many people talking about getting eggs again or their hens not even hardly quit laying and was wondering what I needed to do to help them out to help them to lay again. I'm patient, was just worried something might not be right for them and now I know.

You need to do both. Higher protein and calcium. Protein in protein out. Eggs are mostly protein. Now if you feed hight protein without enough calcium you might get soft shelled eggs. Ya gotta do both. As for the light on 24/7. How productive would you be with 24 hours of light shining on you. The light on causes stress. None of us, chickens included are at our optimum when we are stressed. Feed them properly and you'll reap the benefits. Promise.

 

[WindingRoad]

@oldhenlikesdogs Okay, thanks. But no veggie scraps, left over bread or egg shells? Just checking what you all do so I can do best by my girls.

No bread but egg shells are a good source of calcium. Just crush them up fine and bake at 350 for 5 minutes or so. Watch them closely they will burn. I put them in a small chopper ( like for onions or nuts in baking) and grind them almost to a powder. Spread over feed. Good luck.

 

[Chickens4Life101]

Are your nesting boxes dirty? If they are you may want to consider cleaning them out.