No eggs for me!

[meggers38]

Hello, I am wondering if you can help me understand why I still have no eggs from my chickens. We got this group of 15 chickens in late summer, and about late October a good majority of them started molting. We haven't had more than 2-3 eggs a day since then. Now we are down to 1 egg a day, from 15 chickens. We have adequate space for them, inside the coop and in their run, they eat well with multiple eating stations, and I am giving them extra protein to compensate for the molting. Is it just that we went from molting to winter? I know others who have eggs in the winter...so I am just not sure what's going on. They are not older chickens, they are all around 1 year old now. Help! We got these chickens to offset the ridiculous price we pay here in Idaho for eggs, $5 a dozen for Walmart eggs. My husband is no longer thinking that this is a good investment.....

 

[thelinuxfan]

If they were purchased late summer, you probably are just being impatient

I added some new hens that were hatched early July and they have been producing eggs for the last 3 weeks. It started 2-3 and now we are getting 8-12 per day.

 

[3KillerBs]

If they molted then they are probably mature hens who have already been through a laying cycle and this is the normal winter break. They will resume laying as days get longer.

Where did you get them and when did the seller say they were hatched?

I tried to make sure that the people who bought my mature hens understood that they were getting birds who would soon molt and might not lay again until spring, but not all sellers are ethical about this.

 

[Brooks_]

Hello, I am wondering if you can help me understand why I still have no eggs from my chickens. We got this group of 15 chickens in late summer, and about late October a good majority of them started molting. We haven't had more than 2-3 eggs a day since then. Now we are down to 1 egg a day, from 15 chickens. We have adequate space for them, inside the coop and in their run, they eat well with multiple eating stations, and I am giving them extra protein to compensate for the molting. Is it just that we went from molting to winter? I know others who have eggs in the winter...so I am just not sure what's going on. They are not older chickens, they are all around 1 year old now. Help! We got these chickens to offset the ridiculous price we pay here in Idaho for eggs, $5 a dozen for Walmart eggs. My husband is no longer thinking that this is a good investment.....

My first thought is to blame short daylight hours. For price point, no not a good investment. For knowing where your food comes from and how it is raised/fed, great investment.

 

[thelinuxfan]

If they were purchased late summer, you probably are just being impatient

I added some new hens that were hatched early July and they have been producing eggs for the last 3 weeks. It started 2-3 and now we are getting 8-12 per day.

Oops. I missed the one year old part!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's mainly their age plus time of year. I haven't gotten a single egg since November, even with pullets hatched out in March this year.

 

[meggers38]

Thank you, everyone, I appreciate your replies. I checked again with the acquaintance I got the chickens from and she said that some are 1 year and some are 18 months (ish). It sounds like it's a little impatience on my part and the rest is just natural reasons. I am glad to know I am not alone, I was starting to worry that maybe we were doing something wrong. I guess I was hoping we would get a few a day, as paying $21 for 5 dozen Walmart eggs is not what I want to be doing! Lol! Anyway, thank you so much! This community is awesome.

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you, everyone, I appreciate your replies. I checked again with the acquaintance I got the chickens from and she said that some are 1 year and some are 18 months (ish). It sounds like it's a little impatience on my part and the rest is just natural reasons. I am glad to know I am not alone, I was starting to worry that maybe we were doing something wrong. I guess I was hoping we would get a few a day, as paying $21 for 5 dozen Walmart eggs is not what I want to be doing! Lol! Anyway, thank you so much! This community is awesome.

Unfortunately, buying mature hens isn't a good way to get a lot of eggs quickly.

If you didn't want to/couldn't raise chicks, what you wanted were Point-of-Lay pullets. Production is usually greatest in the first year and falls off after that.