Hens on Strike?

[Levering]

Good morning, we have about a dozen hens (RIR, Barred Rocks, Ameraucanas, and a few other breeds) and up until early July the girls were laying more eggs than we can ever imagine eating (10-12 a day). Then, one day, they just stopped! Now we're lucky to get 2-3 eggs a day.

The egg production stopped right about the time our rooster died (found him dead in the yard). Thought it might have been some type of illness causing the hens to stop laying, but they all seem healthy and, with the exception of a hawk attack, we have not lost a hen since the rooster died.

We have switched food, but it's food they ate when they were laying really well, and that didn't help. We usually let them out to roam during the day, so we thought that maybe they were laying somewhere other then the nesting boxes. So, we kept them in the run for a few days, and we still only got an egg or two a day. There's no sign of anything getting into to the coop and eating the eggs...?

Can anybody offer any suggestions as to why the ladies stopped laying? Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[K0k0shka]

It could be weather and/or daylight related, depending on where you live. The summer was brutally hot and dry in a lot of places, and that affects egg production. Mine slowed down significantly during the worst part of the summer, then picked back up but briefly, because around August/September they started getting ready for their molt. Then after the molt it was winter, and they are on vacation in the winter because the days are shorter. So it's been slow to none for me since around that time, too. The summer before that one, it wasn't as hot and they laid much better. The days are getting longer now, so your chickens will resume their productive laying soon!

 

[Levering]

It could be weather and/or daylight related, depending on where you live. The summer was brutally hot and dry in a lot of places, and that affects egg production. Mine slowed down significantly during the worst part of the summer, then picked back up but briefly, because around August/September they started getting ready for their molt. Then after the molt it was winter, and they are on vacation in the winter because the days are shorter. So it's been slow to none for me since around that time, too. The summer before that one, it wasn't as hot and they laid much better. The days are getting longer now, so your chickens will resume their productive laying soon!

We live in Southwest VA, and the summer here was, for the most part, hot and dry. Hopefully the girls get back from vacation soon , cause I’m about to take out second mortgage to buy a dozen eggs at the store

Thanks!

 

[K0k0shka]

We live in Southwest VA, and the summer here was, for the most part, hot and dry. Hopefully the girls get back from vacation soon , cause I’m about to take out second mortgage to buy a dozen eggs at the store

Thanks!

I know... Avian flu has driven egg prices through the roof! Can't wait for my vacationers to start laying again, too.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

My 5 CT hens havnt laid since early October. None of them! Until today!!! I got a single egg today and I got to witness who it was. Oddly enough, the prior two days before, she squatted for me twice. I think its a fluke, and I'm not assuming she'll continue this laying; but I'll tell you what, that was one nice lookin' egg . Like .75 cents! Lmao

 

[NikkisChickees]

It could be weather and/or daylight related, depending on where you live. The summer was brutally hot and dry in a lot of places, and that affects egg production. Mine slowed down significantly during the worst part of the summer, then picked back up but briefly, because around August/September they started getting ready for their molt. Then after the molt it was winter, and they are on vacation in the winter because the days are shorter. So it's been slow to none for me since around that time, too. The summer before that one, it wasn't as hot and they laid much better. The days are getting longer now, so your chickens will resume their productive laying soon!

Absolutely weather and daylight hours affected.

Making sure they have a great intake of protein can help. Many people feed their chickens meat during the winter to help maintain egg production.

Keeping them warm WITHOUT heat intervention. I personally give my chickens cayenne pepper. (I live in WA state- on the cold snowy east side. I personally don’t mind if my girls take a break from egg laying in the winter. But I feed it to them regardless- just to help them not use so much energy to stay warm themselves.) I just add it into their food mix- or sprinkled over some warm oatmeal as a treat.

Adding light inside the coop can also help- just to prolong the affect of daytime light.


My current and only hen is still laying. She never stopped, even when all the other 4 did this winter before we had a dog attack. She obviously didn’t lay during that time of recouping. But now that she is back out in the coop- she is laying again. She is an Easter Egger and out of all the others was my biggest and heaviest hen. I think that because of her heftiness- she doesn’t expend much energy keeping herself warm so she is able to continue producing eggs. But that’s just my personal theory

 

[K0k0shka]

I personally give my chickens cayenne pepper. (I live in WA state- on the cold snowy east side. I personally don’t mind if my girls take a break from egg laying in the winter. But I feed it to them regardless- just to help them not use so much energy to stay warm themselves.

Cayenne pepper does absolutely nothing for keeping them warm (or for laying eggs). Chickens, like all birds, lack the receptors necessary to perceive the heat in hot peppers (capsaicin). They can’t taste it at all, and it has no effect on them.

 

[NikkisChickees]

Cayenne pepper does absolutely nothing for keeping them warm (or for laying eggs). Chickens, like all birds, lack the receptors necessary to perceive the heat in hot peppers (capsaicin). They can’t taste it at all, and it has no effect on

You are correct. They can’t taste it- but that’s not why it’s suggested. It has nothing to do with capsaicin. It helps improve their circulation. And additionally boost respiratory health. Cinnamon/pepper flakes does the same thing.

 

[K0k0shka]

You are correct. They can’t taste it- but that’s not why it’s suggested. It has nothing to do with capsaicin. It helps improve their circulation. And additionally boost respiratory health. Cinnamon/pepper flakes does the same thing.

Has this been proven to work in birds specifically, and to an extent where it will make an actual difference for them in the winter?

 

[NikkisChickees]

Has this been proven to work in birds specifically, and to an extent where it will make an actual difference for them in the winter?

Not my knowledge, but it hasn’t been unproven either.

I was only making a suggestion. If YOU don’t want to do that- no one asked you to.

There’s no harm in feeding your chickens spices whether or not you believe it works.

I refuse to blow up Levering’s post over something so silly. We can agree to disagree.