How long until they lay again

[Chicken Shephard]

We have ~50 laying hens and we usually get ~40 eggs/day. About 2 weeks ago, our production suddenly reduced to ~8-12 eggs/day and has not improved since. At this rate, we cannot supply our customers, so we need to get it straightened out quickly.

The reason for the sudden drop could be due to a number of issues (all of them our fault): We left for 1 week on vacation, the neighbor who fed them did not collect the eggs, 3 hens went broody and guarded the nesting boxes, we introduced 6 new hens to the flock, a big tractor mowed the field adjacent to them. It could be due to any or all of those reasons.

Anyway - we are back now and the stresses are hopefully over. We isolated the broody hens, cleaned out the nesting boxes, etc. The chickens are all between 1-2 years of age. Equal mix between Rhode Island Reds, Easter Eggers and Barred Rock. We have a clean, large (8X20X10) coop with 300' of pastured run, which we rotate once/week. Predators are not an issue. No evidence of disease. What I need to know is: How long until they start laying again?

Thanks!!

 

[aart]

We left for 1 week on vacation, the neighbor who fed them did not collect the eggs

Hopefully they didn't let them run out of water.

What I need to know is: How long until they start laying again?

Could be days...or weeks....or months.

How old are your birds?

..and... Welcome to BYC! @Chicken Shephard
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[so lucky]

The heat might have something to do with it. I think lots of folks who sell eggs deal with a shortage now and then. It's hard to say how long it will be till they start laying again. Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your hens.

 

[Chicken Shephard]

Thanks @aart and @so lucky ! I updated my location (Pennsylvania). I think the chickens had plenty of water and all the chickens are between 10 months - 18 months old. We are experiencing a heat wave right now, but for the past month the heat/rain has been normal for this location.

I suspect the problem(s) were the multiple stressers all hitting at once. Now that we fixed the stress and things are back to normal, it would be nice to give our customers a general ballpark figure on when we will have eggs for sale again. Perhaps that is not possible though...

 

[aart]

it would be nice to give our customers a general ballpark figure on when we will have eggs for sale again. Perhaps that is not possible though...

It can be a moving target.

Your older birds may be slowing as molting season approaches.