I'm sure it's been posted before...but why have they stopped laying?

[calamtykel]

I have 13 hens - five different mixes of breeds. They have been excellent layers - averaging between 9 and 12 eggs a day. However, now we're only getting four a day out of them! =:O They're only 11 months old....so what gives?

About a month ago I added some new hens to our flock, but their laying didn't really slow down then and they don't seem to care much about them - they stay apart. We did go through an illness about two weeks ago - I lost one hen to it and another got sick -gave them all antibiotics last week and now the sick one is well and everyone is fine. Everyone is eating -doing great, acting fine, but they just don't seem interested in laying. Nobody is eating them - they free range all day so they're not interested in staying near the nests.

We did just add 14 six week old chicks...but that was just a few days ago -the slowed down before we did that.

ideas? They can't be molting at 11 months can they? If they don't start up again I'm considering processing them along with the seven freedom rangers that we're raising and they will be ready in about a month. I hate to do that since their laying seemed so brief; yet I can't justify feeding 13 birds for 4 eggs a day............

 

[ginbart]

First of all,

I wish I could help you with that and I hope someone can because mine slowed down also. Did you change food? I did and I think that's what happened to mine.

 

[halo]

Mine have slowed down considerably in this heat. I have probably 20 layers, and am now down to less than a dozen a day; some days only 4 or 5.

That being said, if you can't "justify" feeding them when they back off laying, then chickens might not be for you. I don't know how much they can be eating of what you provide, if they are free ranging. That being said, they may be laying out while free ranging. They are not machines, and don't lay 365 days a year. They are livestock; you might want to look at the over all picture, rather than on a daily basis. But first off, Id make sure they aren't laying somewhere other than the nest boxes.

 

[ginbart]

Quote:
Sometimes when I write, or I should say type on here it doesn't come out on paper like it sounds in my head. I'm sure you didn't mean to sound mean. We have a newbe here only asking for help.

 

[speckledhen]

I personally do not believe that halo sounded mean in the least! And I agree with her. Chickens often slow down in the heat. Mine sure have. And they slow down some as they age.

 

[calamtykel]

Yes, this is my first year with them. We are raising meat birds also, as well as dual purpose birds, so I'm not sure I understand what you mean by chickens might not be for us if we are considering processing them. :/That is why we got dual purpose birds. I'm going to assume that didn't mean to sound "Mean" but it was rather abrasive and judgmental; I was only asking if anyone had any ideas (early molting, antibiotics, etc?)

 

[calamtykel]

And they slow down some as they age.>>

That is what I was looking for, not a rebuke....... Is 11 months "aged" though? They laid their first egg on Christmas Eve. Everything I can find on Google searches says that they should actually LAY for 11 months before they molt. I'm just looking for another reason. It's not terribly hot here, but it has been very very rainy.....?. I'm trying to follow them to see if they have any "secret" nests, but I haven't seen any..........

 

[highcountrychickens]

Well I saw at least three reasons for them to slow laying... another inherent...

Adding chickens to a flock, illness, new chicks and heat of summer... all of these are reasons in themselves to interrupt laying - all of them happening within a month or two? I think you're lucky to be getting what you're getting, and need to be a bit more patient. Especially considering how prolific they were to begin with.

If you cull them, it will many weeks until you get new babies laying, so the loss of a few eggs every day until then should justify your keeping them around, letting them recover from the stresses of the past month and giving them the chance to get back on their game...
better something than nothing ... if it's just to allay your frustration with the situation, you need to look at it a bit more carefully.

Remember, they're animals not machines - their sensitivity to things is a remarkable and simple point of schooling for our own sensitivity to things.

Who knew chickens could make us wise...

... I mean, other than the vast majority of those on this forum of course

 

[ginbart]

Quote:
No no no sorry I wasing saying she was mean in saying they slowed down because of the heat. I didn't mean that at all. And you know what I'm not going to say anything else. I don't want to start something. So lets just forget it and give her some help.

 

[speckledhen]

I think there's just a misunderstanding of words here, so hopefully, we can stay on track. I think what halo meant was based on the way the OP wrote the original statement. It sounded like she wanted to stop feeding the birds because they had slowed down their laying pace or something to that effect. So, let's start over a bit here.
At about 9 months old, they go through a sort of mini-molt. Yours may be doing that now and coupled with hot weather, that may be why they have slowed their pace. I'm sure it will pick up when the weather cools a bit or when their little molt is done. Some of mine just began laying at 11 months old and I know it takes awhile for them to get up to speed, plus when this heat hits, they tend to stay away from the nests more. When you process your birds is up to you entirely, but if you got them as layers, I think it's a bit premature to do that now.