I fail! why dont they give me eggs?

[flying_babyb]

I tried to read the chicken egg production article but was rather lost so I thought I would ask why mine dont lay.
Details:
On layer feed for about 4 months
someones laying two eggs a day
Had one egg that was misformed (soft)
Been laying about a month

Our weathers been warm and ocationally rainy. They have a huge food bucket and can eat whatever they want whenever they want. No changes to the enviroment since they stated laying, we did add two babies (about half the big chickens size) to the flock about a week before they begain laying. We have a flock of 6 full growns (layer age) and two pullets (around 5 mths). I cant thing that upset them! they have a huge chicken house and a run thats enclosed, and huge (even my farmer freind was schocked at its size!). theres more than enough space in the house, theres tons of light (large windows). Our nesting boxes are a bit darker but still recieve light. They get snacks ocationally (mostly garden leftovers and bread) and worms every few days (the kids think its super cool to hand feed the chickens). There totally spolied birds! Just wondering whats going on? According to TSC we should be drowning in eggs by now and I just wanna make sure we didnt screw up. Sorry its so wordy, i wanted to give every little detail to get the best answer, thanks for reading@!

 

[stubbornhill]

You certainly may have a chicken that on occassion lays two eggs a day, but that would be very, rare. I would say that you have two hens that are laying. And I agree. You should be getting more then 2 eggs a day. Is it possible that they are laying out in the run somewhere? I am interested in hearing what others have to say. It sounds like you have a very nice set up for them.

 

[Jim2448]

good afternoon.....a couple of questions:
1) are you feeding them laying pellets?
2) do you give them extra light, i have lights on a timer, right now i have the lights come on about 4am and turn off at 6:30, chickens need 14 to 16 hours of light
3) how has the temperature been where you live, my chickens have slowed down because of the heat we have been having
4) not sure of the age of your chickens, is it possible they are molting?

hopefully this helps a little

good luck!!

 

[flying_babyb]

1) are you feeding them laying pellets? Yes, thats what the guy at the feed store told us to use
2) We have been going with natural light, sun comes up around 5 goes down around 9pm
3) Its been mild. Close to what we have every summer, just with less rain
4) molting? um no clue. There about 7 months cause I registed here the day after they came home and they were around a month then

 

[MetalSmitten]

what breeds are they? some breeds start laying later, and some just aren't as good at laying as others. they may just be still not laying regularly yet. (and keep in mind, TSC doesn't always know what they sell you... they are well-known for selling chicks as one breed/gender and turns out they're not.)

otherwise, i'd guess they're either hiding eggs or maybe a snake or something is getting them out of the nest boxes.

 

[Jim2448]

sounds like you should be getting eggs, i would try adding some light in the early morning. i use one of those energy efficient bulbs, it has worked just fine. when the light goes on they wake up instantly, it's kind of funny....

i'm sure you are doing this as well, but make sure they have plenty of fresh water

other then that keep doing what you are doing, your eggs are coming.

 

[flying_babyb]

they have a big huge water thats filled daily. whats the best way to add aditional light? There coop is directly behind our garage door so we can shove cords out the door for electricity.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

You do not need additional light - unless no light gets into your coop.


What breeds are your chickens?




Some chickens lay later and some lay sooner. I have orpingtons who do not start laying until almost a year old. Some production breeds (red stars, black stars - those type) will lay sooner - sometimes as soon as 18/20 weeks.



What is the protein percentage in your layer feed (it should say right on the tag)?


A soft shelled egg, for a new laying pullet is not unusual. It sometimes takes a bit for their system to get it right. (and I have found this to happen most often with early layers)


Sporadic laying in new layers in not unusual either.





How do their combs look - it is one of the quickest ways to tell if a pullet (under a year female chicken) is laying and even in a hen (over a year old female chicken). Combs that are bright red, and fat are signs that the pullet/hen is laying or getting close to laying.