Oh my... culling time?

[Hesus the Chicken Caller]

where to begin... I have a flock of 20 including a turkey, a duck and 3 roos.
Of my hens:

4 should have started laying a month ago (and I have recently started seeing small new eggs)
3 are too young to lay,
2 should be laying within the next month
6 are possible old birds who were laying

That's around TEN that should be laying yet I am only gathering THREE eggs per day!

at least one of my old biddies was laying green eggs. Maybe two were. I can't for the life of me figure out who is laying and who isn't. I haven't seen any green eggs for over a week though, so I feel this is a great spot to start. However- I don't know which ones are my green layers!

I'm attaching a photo if anyone can nab the possible culprit(s).

Additional info- all very well fed with never ending layer food supply, calcium levels are good- all shells are baked ground and re-fed, water supply is great, they do eat scrap from meals (I have a large family and we scrape our plates from our organic home made meals into a special bin for the birds).

There are feathers lying around but I also can't say for sure if they are molting. I've done chickens numerous times and never had this trouble and I guess never had them long enough due to moves to have to cull. The old biddies are hand me downs but I hate to get rid of them if it's not necessary!

 

[azygous]

Unless you live in the lower hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, Africa, etc) your older birds are starting to molt. Egg laying drops off or ceases during molt.

The new birds may not have enough light in the day to trigger their laying hormones, so they could wait until after winter solstice to begin laying when the lengthening days will trigger the hormones. To be safe, I would give them until February before culling.

Unless you actually observe a feather picker, the feathers lying around are probably from molt. I'm getting a gallon of feathers a day already from my moltly crew.

Be patient. I recommend you hold off on culling until after the new year at least. Unless you get very, very hungry.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Older birds will quit laying to molt from now until December. Most will resume between December and March.

Young birds mature more slowly in fall so add a month to your expected starting times. Most will lay at a decreased rate, and sporadically this time of year.

The highest production is seen in early spring under increasing daylight, and into early summer before the heat slows them back down. It doesn't sound to me like you have anything out of the ordinary wrong, just higher expectations.

I see a mish mash of breeds, nothing looks to be a high production breed. Silkies are poor layers so don't expect much out of them.

 

[Parront]

As they get older, the molt seems to last longer. If they are laying, the vent will be large and soft, almost pulsing when you turn them over and look carefully under the tail. One who is not laying will have a vent that looks dry and white --puckered, but a layer will have a moist pink vent. Hope that helps! If you don't want to feed them until Feb, now you could cull the older ones with dry vents and molting for soup stock. The third year is not very good for laying.

 

[Chickassan]

I keep my old girls they are helpful in teaching the youngsters.

 

[Hesus the Chicken Caller]

Unless you live in the lower hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, Africa, etc) your older birds are starting to molt. Egg laying drops off or ceases during molt.

The new birds may not have enough light in the day to trigger their laying hormones, so they could wait until after winter solstice to begin laying when the lengthening days will trigger the hormones. To be safe, I would give them until February before culling.

Unless you actually observe a feather picker, the feathers lying around are probably from molt. I'm getting a gallon of feathers a day already from my moltly crew.

Be patient. I recommend you hold off on culling until after the new year at least. Unless you get very, very hungry.

Thanks.
I live in Alaska so I do believe I'm expecting a molt. I'm definitely not anywhere near a gallon a day, maybe closer to 1/2 gallon but we haven't seen any feather pluckers.

Thanks for the advice. I will wait!

 

[Parront]

I keep my old girls they are helpful in teaching the youngsters.

Silkies don't eat much and can brood chicks. But big meaty birds with pale combs, look like stew to me!

 

[Hesus the Chicken Caller]

Silkies don't eat much and can brood chicks. But big meaty birds with pale combs, look like stew to me!

I plan on breeding my silkies- the two white ones are hens and two black ones are my 2/3 Roos.
Yes- the lack of eggs is making my chickens look more delicious by the day

 

[Parront]

I plan on breeding my silkies- the two white ones are hens and two black ones are my 2/3 Roos.
Yes- the lack of eggs is making my chickens look more delicious by the day

Sometimes big birds eat a lot. In Alaska, you probably need to have a light to get eggs in Feb. They need 14 hours of light to start laying for most breeds. That is at least 4 months of food bills for older birds that may not lay much when they do start back up!

 

[Hesus the Chicken Caller]

Sometimes big birds eat a lot. In Alaska, you probably need to have a light to get eggs in Feb. They need 14 hours of light to start laying for most breeds. That is at least 4 months of food bills for older birds that may not lay much when they do start back up!

We are just about to start using lights! I am going to check my gals as Parront indicated- I just need my husband on board to help because this is new to me. Sounds pretty straight forward though