New Chickens, Egg laying decreasing

[wvwzzz]

Hi All

I am a new chicken keeper and last week I purchased 10 ex-commercial free range 17 month old Hyline Hens, it's been so exciting but I am a little concerned about their egg laying.

On the first day, the hens produced 9 eggs which was amazing but since then egg production has significantly dropped off, the second day they laid 7 eggs and today, about a week later, they laid 4.

The chickens seem to be really happy except some of the hens squabble over the nesting boxes even when they are not laying. They seem to think they own every box. I have them free ranging in a 50 sqm run with some grass and have also been providing them with kitchen scraps, seconds wheat, laying pellets and plenty of water. They don't seem hungry and barely touch the laying pellets.

I have noticed most of the chickens have a bald patch on their back in front of their tail feathers and also a bald patch on their neck. I'm not sure what’s caused this, I noticed the bald patches as soon as I got them. I was told they were free range but the bald patches are in the right sport for a cage to have rubbed when caged birds are feeding. Could they possibly be molting at their age? The rest of the feathers look alright and there haven’t been any roosters around. New feathers are starting to sprout on the bald skin.

Perhaps they are just getting used to their new more natural life. I know there is a lot more to keeping chickens than their eggs but I am a little concerned I might be doing something wrong with their feed or environment. Initially their droppings were quite liquidy but have now firmed up.

Cheers for the advice!

 

[nuthatched]

Feed higher protein feed if possible

 

[50-45-1]

Anytime there is a significant change or shock in a chickens life. The result will be reduction in eggs.
A change in environment, a change in feed, a traumatic scare or attack, all are typical changes that reduce egg laying.
Plus we will soon go into molting season and hens stop laying then and some of mine dont restart till spring. I'm in Michigan so we get pretty cold temps and I dont blame them.
Your feather loss may indicate a feather picker. Keep an eye out for that and if you see it try to identify the culprit. We can explore more on that later.
Make sure you are supplying grit and oyster shell to these girls. They will appreciate it and overall the new wonderful home and extended life you are giving them!
Thank You!

 

[TooCheep]

Bald spots can be from multiple causes:

• Really bad nutrition (doesn't look like it)
• Excessive mating- this would be on the back, not sure how the throat goes bare
• Serious pecking from other hens (keep an eye out for this)
• Mites (examine those areas and look for creepy crawlies)
• Possibly from rubbing as you suggested
• Molting. Doesn't look like it. You can get bald spots, but the feather loss is generally much more scattered. Are you seeing tons of feathers around, particularly below the roosting bars?

If you see pecking of the bald areas, I'd get some Blu-Kote and rub it on the bare areas to discourage pecking and help the bare spots heal.

As for the laying, they are of an age to get into their first adult molt, so I wouldn't be surprised to see at least some of them start seriously losing feathers and stopping laying until the new feathers grow in. The commercial farm likely got rid of them knowing that this was the time that they would likely molt and turn into an expense rather than be really productive. You will have to work past that until they start laying again.

This leads to feeding. Minimize the extras. The spent grains are rather drained of nutrition. Not sure that they provide much value at all. Treats should generally be <10% of food. Commercial feed and free ranging should be the primary food sources.

The last point is also related to food. This is a point of debate, but I think it is worth understanding. There are three basic types of commercial feed: grower, layer and all-flock. I've come to the conclusion over time that layer feed is really best for commercial operations where they have hens basically all scheduled to start/stop laying at about the same time. All-flock is a better option for most backyard chicken owners that have chickens with different situations in the same flock.

• Grower feed- generally crumbles and higher protein which is ideal for growing chicks, may or may not be medicated
• Layer pellets (generally 16-18% protein and ~4% calcium)- so minimal protein for overall health and higher calcium to support frequent egg laying. Commercial operations would simply start on grower feed, switch to layer feed when the pullets start laying and then dispose of the hens when they stop laying to molt. (you are here...)
• All-flock pellets (generally 18-22% protein and ~1% calcium). Higher protein is better for all chickens and lower calcium is best for any chickens not currently laying (too young, too old, molting, in winter, roosters, etc). Excess calcium can be hard on the joints. Molters need the extra protein to regrow feathers and don't need the extra calcium.
  So, how to handle a mixed flock which backyard chicken owners are more likely to face? I recommend feeding all-flock and offering oyster shell on the side in a small container. The layers will be attracted to the calcium and all birds will benefit from the extra protein.
• All-flock is actually a nearly universal feed. The only exception is for chicks- if you want medicated feed and/or to have the smaller crumble pellets. All-flock crumbles can be used for chicks if you don't want the medication.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hyline are commercial egg-laying hybrids. You mentioned they were commercial hens. At 17 months the flock was probably cutting back on the number of eggs produced and the quality of eggs produced enough that the owners had to decide whether to put them through a molt or replace them as egg production was becoming unprofitable. That is standard practice with commercial flocks. They were free range so I don't know how much the daily cycle of days getting shorter affected hem. The owners could have been extending the length of daylight with lights. But what I'm talking about is not length of days, it is that they have laid continuously for 12 months and their bodies need to recharge before they go back to great laying.

Interesting that you got 9 eggs that first day. Those eggs were started through their internal egg making factory about 25 hours before they were laid so they had started before they were taken from the flock. It's fairly normal that production drops off with a change so getting fewer eggs the next few days is normal. The question will be if some of them start laying again soon or if the change triggers a molt where they stop laying until the molt is over. Probably a mix.

That feather loss does not look like a molt. When they molt they go through a sequence where they start losing feathers on the head and neck and it progresses down their bodies. To me that looks like feather picking. That does not mean that any of the hens you have are the ones picking the feathers. They came from a much larger flock. Keep an eye out for feather picking to see if it is one or some of these but you've only had them a week. And you noticed the feather loss when you got them. Unless I saw feather picking I would not worry about it.

You will probably see some start-up pains but once they get straightened out they should see great egg production.

 

[Mrs. K]

You might check for depluming mites. They produce feathers like what you are showing, and bare spots where yours are bare.

 

[wvwzzz]

Hi All

I am a new chicken keeper and last week I purchased 10 ex-commercial free range 17 month old Hyline Hens, it's been so exciting but I am a little concerned about their egg laying.

On the first day, the hens produced 9 eggs which was amazing but since then egg production has significantly dropped off, the second day they laid 7 eggs and today, about a week later, they laid 4.

The chickens seem to be really happy except some of the hens squabble over the nesting boxes even when they are not laying. They seem to think they own every box. I have them free ranging in a 50 sqm run with some grass and have also been providing them with kitchen scraps, seconds wheat, laying pellets and plenty of water. They don't seem hungry and barely touch the laying pellets.

I have noticed most of the chickens have a bald patch on their back in front of their tail feathers and also a bald patch on their neck. I'm not sure what’s caused this, I noticed the bald patches as soon as I got them. I was told they were free range but the bald patches are in the right sport for a cage to have rubbed when caged birds are feeding. Could they possibly be molting at their age? The rest of the feathers look alright and there haven’t been any roosters around. New feathers are starting to sprout on the bald skin.

Perhaps they are just getting used to their new more natural life. I know there is a lot more to keeping chickens than their eggs but I am a little concerned I might be doing something wrong with their feed or environment. Initially their droppings were quite liquidy but have now firmed up.

Cheers for the advice!

Just a quick reply in case anyone else has a similar issue, thanks to everyone's replies.

The lower egg production was due to their feed. As a noob I went and purchased laying pellets and added some wheat seconds thinking I was getting the right stuff. The wheat seconds were rather low quality, a lot of chaff and not much substance. The laying pellets were a vegetarian blend, the hens were never particularly keen on it. The hens were fed a commercial high performance feed during their farm life, I got in touch with the farm and they explained the feed they gave their hens.
I switched their feed to a different brand which was an actual mix of ingredients with meat meal rather than in pellet form.
The hens loved the new feed and their laying steadily increased.
The balled spots quickly regrew new feathers, I put them down to the type of feed trough/auger the hens had to lean into in their commercial environment.

Thanks again for the great advice!