Need some advice on my chickens laying habits

[chickenannie]

OK. what kind of shavings do you use for bedding? I think I heard somewhere that cedar shavings are toxic. Also, if the birds eat other types of shavings might be interfering with digestion and nutrition -- have you noticed them pecking at the bedding? I"m shooting in the dark here, but thought I'd add my 2 cents again.

 

[blackjack1]

I use pine shavings and I haven't seen them picking at it.
We try to strip the kennels every 2 weeks and folk through it everyday or so to get the big stuff out.
I'm thinking it had to be from a molt, we are getting an egg a day from 10 girls so I hope they pick up more so I can get a good hatch yet this time around.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Has it been really hot where you are??

 

[blackjack1]

Nope. In my mind it would be perfect egg laying temps. cool nights and mid 70 in the day. I got 2 leg horn eggs and 1 bantam cochin today. I hope it this is coming to an end.

 

[pixie74943]

Quote:
thats all the space they have? looks pretty darn small and boring no wonder they pecked the eggs. Do they ever go outside? Chickens like to dust bath, and scratch in the dirt, and enjoy the sunshine. this pic looks like a pretty dull existence

 

[JestersEye]

I'm really frustrated with our three Orpington hens lately! At the beginning of September, we were getting an average of 2 eggs per day, then we only got 1 egg for a couple days. But now... We haven't gotten a single egg rom them for the last three days! (The last egg was layed on Sunday, September 6th.)

The hens seem to feel okay, as far as I can tell from their behavior. Is it normal for them to stop laying completely, and so suddenly? They don't appear to be losing any feathers to indicate molting, but their rooster (also an Orp) is starting to look a little "shaggier" around his bottom and has been losing some of his small fluffy feathers when he causes a fuss or exerts himself.

The weather here has gotten much cooler lately, feeling a lot like fall already. I guess I hadn't expected them to stop laying so soon in the season; but the weather has been wonkier than usual. What is even more confusing is that the Andalusian hen has continued to lay an egg a day like clockwork. I don't think she's ever missed a day since she started laying on April 24th! Isn't it odd that the cooler weather is affecting the cold-hardy Orps before a Mediterranean breed like the Andalusians?

I found the following link with advice on how to get chickens to continue laying through the winter. Has anyone ever had any luck in this area?
http://www.ehow.com/how_2324127_keep-chickens-laying-through-winter.html

 

[chickenannie]

I don't treat my chickens any differently and they lay all through the winter. Even when it's freezing outside! I have Buff Orpingtons, though, which are large, heavily feathered birds, and I think that helps with the winter laying.

 

[JestersEye]

Blue Orpingtons are the same breed as the Buff, only a different variety. Like you said, they are very large, fluffy birds; which is why their "egg strike" has got me so confused!

The weather where you live in southeast PA should be comparable to what we've been getting here lately. If anything, it should be a bit milder here in South Jersey, since I live only 30 minutes or so from the shore. I don't get it???

 

[chickenannie]

Did you look in every nook and cranny to see if they're laying in a hidden spot somewhere? Another person on here was complaining about no eggs and then they found the chickens were flying up to the edge of a barrel and getting inside and laying a nest at the bottom of the barrel! Hens are very sneaky! Even under a wagon or behind a board leaning against the wall. Check everywhere.

 

[JestersEye]

There is absolutely no place in their enclosure or coop that I can't see pretty easily. I thought of the "hidden nest" idea... and would even welcome that as an answer right now. I grew up with chickens and they were always hiding their eggs and hatching out too many roosters, so I took a lot of precautions to limit the hiding spots available to my flock. The few times I had left a nest box too far from the corner of the coop, they did make their own nest behind it, but I found it right away and from then on, I've been more careful of how everything is placed. I've been looking everywhere, on the ground, around feeders and waterers, etc. They just don't have any place they could hide a clutch of eggs.

It's only been after the eggs stopped coming that I started free ranging them in the horse corral, hoping to encourage them perhaps. There's no bushes or even grass for them to nest in, and I've been watching them to see where they go. They haven't really wandered that far from their coop or pen, and there've been no eggs around outside either. The andalusian hen has continued to lay her egg a day inside her regular nest box... but the three Orps have completely stopped laying!