Hens not laying as much

[bybeebunch]

New to the whole chicken thing so bear with me please.
I have 8 hens and one roo and was getting about 5-6 eggs a day. 2 of my hens decided to sit on eggs together one hen is very small and very furry lol (We call her furbert. sorry I don't know all the breeds yet but am learning) Well we let them sit on 2 eggs. One was killed at birth and the other lived. So we have a chick about 3 weeks old in the same pen as all the other hens. During the time we were waiting on the eggs to hatch we were only getting about 2 eggs a day. And even now 3 weeks after the chick was born we still only get about 2-3 eggs a day. Is it because of the stress of the baby in with the others or what could be going on? Is this normal? I know the mama isn't going to lay for a bit but the others should be laying more than that right?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Do you see a bunch of feathers laying around? Could some of your hens be going into molt?

 

[bybeebunch]

Yeah I do see quite a few feathers. Had no idea about moulting. Maybe thats it. Any idea how long this lasts?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Hens molt in the fall and they do not lay during this time. A minor molt will just look like some thinning of the feathers. A hard molt will look like this:



Damaged feathers do not keep them warm in winter, so they replace them before winter. (but I've had some molt right through winter) It is triggered by shorter days. They cannot lay during this time because growing in feathers takes up so much protein - there's not enough left to lay eggs and stay alive.

You can increase their protein during this time to help them grow in feathers a bit quicker. Things like mealworms, higher protein feed, BOSS, tuna, meat scraps, cat food (in small amounts, it has a lot of sodium too) will boost their protein. Each hen is a bit different on how quickly they bounce back from a molt, but average for my flock is 3 months. (some a bit quicker, some a bit slower)