Hi Gang,
I'm so excited to have joined BYC and love all the pics! This is my first post on any thread online, so please be patient. About a month ago hubby and I bought 52 leghorns and settled them in for the winter in an insulated building with a heat lamp. For the first couple of weeks, I gathered anywhere from 32 to 45 eggs daily. But over the past 2 weeks, production has reduced down to only 2 to 4 eggs daily. I don't think the ladies are eating them. But not sure. The hatchery told us they don't need oyster shell and I'm wondering if having none available to them is the problem. Has anyone else had this challenge?
I'm so excited to have joined BYC and love all the pics! This is my first post on any thread online, so please be patient. About a month ago hubby and I bought 52 leghorns and settled them in for the winter in an insulated building with a heat lamp. For the first couple of weeks, I gathered anywhere from 32 to 45 eggs daily. But over the past 2 weeks, production has reduced down to only 2 to 4 eggs daily. I don't think the ladies are eating them. But not sure. The hatchery told us they don't need oyster shell and I'm wondering if having none available to them is the problem. Has anyone else had this challenge?
and Welcome to BYC! How old are your girls, and do you have them under lights? Light 14 hours per day+ is more important than heat for laying (most people do not heat their coops), and with the time of year, if they were mature birds they could be molting. Moving homes/stress will often lead to birds not laying and going into molt, though odd it took a month for yours to quit if that was the main problem. It never hurts to have oyster shell available for them, though the Layer feeds are supposed to be complete. Long BYC thread on why chickens aren't laying. 
