No Eggs Again, Sigh...

[SkyWarrior]

I'm getting ready to create motivational posters of Colonel Sanders for my hens.

Eggs are few and far between. The main group of hens are about 1 1/2 years. Yep, I think they're in molt.

The EEs who were in molt a month or so ago haven't started laying yet.

I have a light on in the coop.

The 7 month Barnevelders are stingy with their eggs.


I have 5 six-month-old hens who should be laying soon. I have 4 more hens that are about 5 months old.

I have a gazillion ducks and 4 geese. And no eggs.

SIGH.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can appreciate that lack of eggs. Be a bit careful with that Colonel Sanders poster though. Those birdbrains don't always get the right message. They might just get hungry.

I'll give you a couple of links about molting. I think you already know most of this, but one has pictures of how to tell fast molters from slow molters. Some can get over a molt pretty fast but some can take months.

EE's don't have tendencies because they are not a breed and nothing is consistent about them, but a lot of chickens will slow down or stop laying in the winter, even if they are finished with the molt. Some of mine slow down in the heat of summer too.

Mississippi State describes molting
http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html

Kansas State feather loss
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf