Low Egg Production

[danbaum]

I'm a back-yard grower with nine lovely hens, all about eight months old. The most eggs I've ever gotten, though, was five in a day. All my birds seem healthy. They eat Layena and kitchen scraps, and about a cup of scratch grains thrown on the ground every day. They're in a run because I live in a town with more foxes and raccoons than Republicans, so they can't forage. But they seem fine. But I do seem to have some slackers. I tried explaining to them that they're supposed to lay an egg a day each, but they just look at me as though to say, "fast up with the scratch grains, buster." (All they seem to think about is scratch grains.) Any idea why I'm getting so few eggs? The days are long enough now, aren't they?
Thanks.

 

[wordgirl]

What breed of hens are they? Some breeds lay more than others.

I think – I am not sure – that you may be feeding too much scratch grains. Too much scratch can lower their total protein intake, making them overweight and lowering egg production.

 

[danbaum]

These girls live for scratch grains. To reduce it would break my heart.
I have three buff orpingtons, a barred rock, a white brahma, a leghorn (never misses a day), an araucana who's at the bottom of the pecking order and gives an egg sporadically, and two mixed breeds who I've seen on the nesting boxes and who I think give eggs from time to time.
I could cut could cut out the scratch, I suppose. You trust Layena pellets? Is that the stuff to feed them?
Thank you for your quick and thoughtful post.

 

[danbaum]

wordgirl...you a writer? Us, too. See www.danbaum.com

 

[wordgirl]

I don't use Layena myself (I've never tried it) but here's a link to a discussion on it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=179933

I hope someone else chimes in about the scratch...I'm not positive that's the problem, but it could be.