Lots of Eggs, NOW just a few??? ANY IDEAS?

[bjw113]

We've been flourishing in eggs for the past 2+ months ever since the weather warmed up. (Our girls were hatched last May). I have 22 laying girls... we started free ranging about 2 months ago.... girls all went back in to the hen house to lay their eggs... getting anywhere from 12 - 18 eggs per day... Weather totally flopped a week ago.. Temps went back into low 30's at night and low 50's during the day, overcast and yucky... Egg production immediately dropped to about half... The cold lasted about 4 days... Now temps are nearing 90 during the day and 70 at night...

we are still only getting about 5 eggs a day... ANY ideas at all???? I thought maybe they had a clutch of eggs outside somewhere but nothing has turned up and I never see any one sitting/laying outside except for under the chicken house... I'm worried that there is something really wrong.. Can ANYONE please give me any ideas as to what could possibly be wrong??

 

[bjw113]

I'm sorry to continue here, but I've just come in and checked the eggs for today. ONLY 3.... I've looked around... Is it possible there is something physically wrong with my chickens???

 

[eggsontoast]

Wish I could help but I'm new at this. I've had Orpingtons and just got a Barred Rock. Since I brought home the new chicken 4 days ago, my other two quit laying in protest. I don't know what their deal is.

 

[ruthless]

Are your hens molting? Maybe a snake, rats or humans are stealing them...........all possibles.

 

[bjw113]

well my hens are only a year old... no signs of molting in terms of losing their feathers. i do have 3 broody hens right now. for the past 5-6 weeks, they have been going in and out of the hen house during the day and laying anywhere from 12-18 eggs a day in the roll-a-way boxes we have in our hen house.. after the cold snap, we let them back out again, and our egg production is down to 3-5 eggs a day... I just don't understand. My husband spent an hour outside this morning, looking everywhere for the possibility that they were laying out side now for some reason, but found NOTHING... this is the 6th day straight... I am about to pull my hair out. there is no way for critters of any sort to get in our hen house...

Is it possible for a 4 day cold snap to somehow stifle the chickens laying this radically??? Please anyone???

 

[Uzuri]

You said you let them back out -- were they closed up in the henhouse, or did they have access to a run?

Mine often go "on strike" if locked up for any amount of time, most likely due to less sunlight (not spite

). They get back to it after a while.

 

[Judy]

Mine lay a little less when it is really hot out, I guess from stress. When I start getting fewer eggs, though, the culprit is usually a rat snake (also called chicken snake.) They are pretty skinny and don't need much of a crack. A fright from a predator could do it. I've never had a cold snap do it that I've noticed, but for most of the year around here, a cold snap is a relief --- maybe their inner workings told them it was winter. Are you seeing more feathers around than usual?

Could this help maybe? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=423023

 

[bjw113]

well they were kept in during the 2 days of really bad storms and 30ish weather... we let them back out to free range when the weather quit being stormy...