Need help with 1 yr old hens not laying. Never been good layers

[shine389]

Sorry. I take care of a handicapped husband and don’t get the feed at the same place all the time, and didn’t want to go out to the shed to look. I mostly get it at tractor supply Co. Dumor or something. Sometimes down the road, can’t remember the name. Minimum 16 protein up to 20.

 

[shine389]

we have nearly 13 hours of daylight now and I only am getting 1 egg every 3 days out of all 6 of them. This is actually less than I got in the middle of Winter. All of them appear to be quite happy. i AM READY TO GIVE THEM AWAY, especially now that it is time to buy another 50lb. bag of layer feed.

 

[shine389]

My old barred plymouth rock was the best layer I ever had. Largest eggs and almost never missed a day including the Winter months, this is why we went to all BPRs. I layer feed in pellet form and always at least 16 percent protein. The same variety as I have always purchased from tractor Supply (Dumor brand) which is what my original BPR ate. They also get dried mealworms as an occasional treat along with red wheat and cracked corn and oats mixture, sparingly, so they eat their other layer feed and it gets five star reviews from nearly evryone stating that their chickens lay best on this food.

 

[Mosey2003]

Get some hybrid layers instead then.

 

[Acre4Me]

I’d put my guess on batch of hens not as good of layers.

Is your source of chicks the same? From some origin? Bc would guess different flock genetics from your stellar layer to this batch.

We had some dark brown Leghorns that took forever to lay. Finally sold them as they were sporadic layers too, producing only medium sized eggs. When I called the hatchery to order some more chicks of different breeds (small hatchery, happened to speak to owner), told them about these DBL and their paltry egg-laying. The owner ssid that they were not their best egg-layers (they are listed as exhibition quality), and that they were not surprised by the lower egg production. So, in this case genetics played the key role.

FWIW, the Plymouth Barred Rocks we have are consistent layers of nice sized, evenly colored eggs. Good personalities too, my tween can get them (and only the PBR), to jump up like a dog to get a treat that she holds high for them... so, we purchased 2 more from same source hoping for similar experience.

I hope you are able to get some good layers. If you want great egg layers you can go to production stock, but often need to turn them over frequently (often by around 2years old) to keep up production numbers. You can search for other breeders that may be breeding for overall egg laying longevity if you want PBR.

 

[Acre4Me]

If interested in seeking out other hatcheries/breeders, you can search the NPIP site by state:

http://www.poultryimprovement.org/statesContent.cfm

There are 8 pages for PA, but 36 pages for Ohio if you wanted to find a breeder or hatchery within driving distance.

They use stock codes, so here are the codes for Plymouth Rocks:

 

[Mosey2003]

I'm getting between 3 and 6 eggs from 9 BPR hens currently. If the birds are in a hard molt, they're simply not gonna lay much at all.

 

[Anndie]

Have you thought about adding a light on a timer to the coop ? Bump the daylight time up a little to 14 hours . And definitely make sure their protein and calcium needs. are being met.

 

[Ebony Rose]

If you suspect molting, you can add some rice and peas to their treat list, both contain essential amino acids for their feather growth. Supplementing this could 'free up' the available protein in your normal feed to give them the energy to lay sooner and speed up their molt.
Some breeds of chickens go off-lay during the winter season, and can usually be pushed to lay if you provide lots of extra light daily. Hens need 14 hours of 'daylight' daily to lay, and in the USA winter daylight doesn't meet that need. If you supplement light (forcing them to lay off-season), be aware that it will reduce the number of years your hens will be productive and be aware of the risk of fire occurring from your light/heat source.
Your problem sounds like standard off-season chickens; not a problem at all, except that you want more eggs and they're not giving them up... Hope you find comfort in that.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Please also inspect them closely for mites.
Mites can cause serious feather damage in addition to draining (literally) the life right out of the birds.