Please help me figure this out...

[coop-er]

My bird's egg production is way too low. I have a rooster (bantam) and 13 hens. I also have 6 babies in a separate area of the coop. My 13 laying hens are producing about 4-5 eggs a day and I should easily be getting 10 or more. All the hens are young, the coop is clean, the birds all get along well, their food and water is plentiful and clean. They have plenty of room in the coop and in the run. They have approx 2-3 hours of free range time when I get home from work. We have not had any predator problems. I am puzzled and frustrated. Does anyone have an idea of what the issue could be or how to remedy this?. They have all been excellent layers up to this point.

 

[junebuggena]

How old are your girls?

 

[coop-er]

How old are your girls?

6-18 months, too young for menopause

 

[junebuggena]

The ones that are over a year old are probably about to start their fall molt. Production typically slows or comes to a complete stop during molting. Most resume laying once they are finished molting, others don't start laying again until spring is on the way.

 

[chixcoop]

My bird's egg production is way too low. I have a rooster (bantam) and 13 hens. I also have 6 babies in a separate area of the coop. My 13 laying hens are producing about 4-5 eggs a day and I should easily be getting 10 or more. All the hens are young, the coop is clean, the birds all get along well, their food and water is plentiful and clean. They have plenty of room in the coop and in the run. They have approx 2-3 hours of free range time when I get home from work. We have not had any predator problems. I am puzzled and frustrated. Does anyone have an idea of what the issue could be or how to remedy this?. They have all been excellent layers up to this point.

Maybe the 6 babies are disturbing the grown hens production. Have the babies always been with the hens when the hens were laying 14-15 eggs a day, or were the babies a recent addition?

 

[coop-er]

Maybe the 6 babies are disturbing the grown hens production. Have the babies always been with the hens when the hens were laying 14-15 eggs a day, or were the babies a recent addition?

The babies are 4 weeks old, they are in a cage in the coop but separate from the rest, occasionally I put them in a cage and set them in the yard during free range time. The egg production just started to decline the past 10-14 days or so. This is not the first time I have had chicks in the coop with this group of hens, so I would be surprised if it disturbed them now. But who knows, chickens can be fickle !

 

[aart]

If you're free ranging, they could be laying out in the range area.

Decline of day length and onset of molt could also be a factor.