Hens and eggs (of lack thereof)

[gracieracer]

This is just odd. I have 2 OE bantams (18 mos old) and 3 Araucana (8 mos old) bantams and since the middle of October the group has laid 6 eggs total, laid two eggs at a time. I suspect the OEs were the layers since they are the oldest, but 6 eggs in 7 weeks?

Am I the only one who finds this strange?

Kathy

 

[Chickenaddict]

Alot of people are going thru something similar. Due to the time of year and the molting process egg production tends to come to a screeching hault, maybe try adding extra light in their coop if you haven't already? 6 eggs in 7 weeks is pretty rough, i get at least 4 to 5 a day from 13 hens and it has been like that since october so i feel your pain lol. Don't worry they will be back in business as soon as they get over their molt

 

[justhatchin]

gracieracer- Do you free range. My bantams like to hide their eggs, I find them in the goat barn and in baskets of now dead flowers.

But yes it is partly this time of year.

 

[Attack Chicken]

Everyones egg production is slowing down.

 

[Southernbelle]

I get 3-4/day from 22 hens/pullets. Fortunately, it meets our needs. Hope yours do better, soon!

 

[jbhill]

Does anyone know how long this molting will take? We have the same situation. 20 layers (9+ months) and we are down to 6 to 12 eggs

per day when it had been near 16-18.

We recently added a timed light for added daylight in the morning hours.

 

[digitS']

There are people here with more chickens and more experience with chickens than I have. Perhaps, it is possible for 8 month old chickens to go thru a molt. I just wouldn't have expected it.

My experience has been that they wouldn't molt the year they hatched - they molt in the Fall of the 2nd year.

Once they go into that molt, it takes them awhile to come out of it. One month, may be just about a minimum. Some birds molt really hard, others hardly show any sign that they are molting. There may even be an egg or 2 showing up during this time.

It seems like there may be 2 issues here - molting and decreasing hours of daylight. There may be other nutrition issues - insufficient protein, in particular, for the birds to produce an egg. But, at first blush it looks to me like folks are having problems with decreasing light and/or their older birds coming out of a molt. BTW - regrowing feathers is another good reason for adequate protein in the diet.

Steve

 

[dnjwilson]

I have 2 hens and 3 roosters (hens are barred rock and roosters are BR and rhode island reds). They are 7 mos old and I have yet to see an egg! I am feeding them the egg crumble feed and a small daily treat of 30% protein (cat food). Also they free range for most of the day in my garden but I haven't been able to find any eggs hidden ANYWHERE! Anyone know what the problem is and how I can help it.