Lack of Eggs - Stopped Laying or Hen is Eating ?

[Kiki]

This is an extremely well written and informative article about eggs...you may want to check it out:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1003/factors-influencing-shell-quality/


If I were you I would stop ALL treats.

 

[Kiki]

Northern Illinois, USA
Getting towards the end of winter. Mid 20's at night and during the day temp varies from high 30's to 55 degrees. I have noticed extra feathers on the ground so yes someone(s) are starting to molt.

Hens don't lay during molt.

Be sure to check then over real good for lice and or mites too.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Occasional treats, left overs from our refrigerator - rice, oatmeal, cooked veggies, etc. I have a cabbage hanging in the run for entertainment and snacking.

The feeders are always full. I feed them AgriMaster Layer 16% Poultry Feed from Farm & Fleet.

What breeds do you have besides RIR?
The primary things that affect egg laying are the breed, the time of year(increasing vs. decreasing day length), optimal nutrition, molting, stress factors and disease.
It is great use of kitchen scraps to feed chickens. However, when we do so, we need to know how we are affecting overall nutrition. Layer feed is formulated to be a complete feed for producing table eggs. No supplements necessary. 16% crude protein is the absolute minimum needed for layers to ovulate normally. Crude protein is the beginning of the story. The balance of essential amino acids is more important than crude protein percentage. Most commercial feeds have an appropriate balance determined by assay.
All the things you are adding are lowering the crude protein and some of the essential amino acids.
Rice is about 8% protein, oatmeal is higher but still lower than layer feed. Vegetables are low in protein and any vegetative source will be missing several essential amino acids.
While adding table scraps to the diet, don't forget to include the meat, fish and dairy that than can offset the imbalance created by those vegetative sources. Chickens are omnivores and benefit from animal protein sources.
Any birds that are molting won't be producing eggs till they have completely recovered.
If birds are kept indoors for any of the day light hours or the coop has small windows, that can affect how they sense day length.