Hens taking a holiday?

[d.k]

* Easter Bunny has a well-hidden rabbity-run on Easter Island, of course!!!

 

[gds_is]

Boy does this post ever make me feel better. My hens (8 pullets born last fall at a friend's farm) have been keeping us (and our neighbours, and my parents, and my in-laws) in eggs since we got them at the end of February... 7 eggs a day went down to 4 last Tuesday, then to 3 on Friday. We've held steady at 2 eggs a day ever since.

My neighbour suggested that they might be moulting but I haven't noticed differences in their appearance. I am just happy to read that others are experiencing this too -- which I read as: Normal, don't worry about it. Hopefully my girls will start amping up their productivity soon! At least with two eggs a day we still don't have to go to the grocery store to (gasp) buy eggs!

 

[gds_is]

I'm not sure how fast the chilli pepper suggestion is supposed to work but I gave my girls some dried chillis this morning and found 4 eggs this afternoon! 4 is not quite up to the 7 they were giving me just over a week ago, but it's better than the two I've been getting lately. I gave them a few more chillis before I tucked them in tonight, just to see.

 

[stilwellchick]

Okay, I had 4 eggs from 6 hens today, the best day in the last 2 weeks. My cochin mutt that was a heavy layer before has still not laid in a week. No loose feathers around and no one looks anything like a moult. Everybody eating and pooping and acting normal. No signs of broodiness and my cochin mutt Gracie doesn't even look at the nests. She is the lowest hen on the pecking order and has always been my kind of special ed hen but has recently starting running around the yard chasing squirrels and robins. Go figure.