Poor egg laying

[Elle]

Hi all,

I have 4laying hens about 1yr old. They were laying daily for weeks Id get 4 eggs daily. I ran out of feed 2 weeks ago so for a few days they didn't get too much food (didn't starve or anything just a lot less and they were hungry). I knew they were not happy as I was only getting 1-2 a day after that.

I made it up to them by getting them out heaps free ranging on my property and giving them unlimited food/water for last fortnight.

Anyways the last few days I've got 1 egg and multiple days with none... Despite the fact I have heard them laying and have gone out to find no eggs! They live in an enclosed large coop and no hiding places to lay. They're healthy no egg bound etc. The weather has been same. I'm in australia so temperature is mild to warm at the moment.

However, there are 100'sof feathers around the cage which is making me think my girls have been distressed. I've never had moulting feathers even close to this amount. I'm starting to think I have something stealing my eggs. My coop is enclosed but small animals could get in between the gaps but I have no evidence other than mice. Any ideas? Are they just off laying or do I some something stealing my eggs. Thanks

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Limiting nutrients is a way of forced molting in the industry... you may have induced it. Birds don't lay during molt.

Maybe next time feed stuff from your own cupboard if you CAN.

I would be sure and provide good protein and not low nutrient stuff like corn, scratch, or lettuce. M y birds always get free choice (unlimited) food and water. Not at night because they don't eat in the dark and I refuse to feed free loading, disease and parasite spreading rodents... and chickens don't eat in the dark.

For them, even though YOU knew it would be short term their body probably switched into fight or flight mode and started preserving it's own health by not producing eggs which takes a huge amount of "energy" (food) to produce.

They will probably recover before long. In YOUR situation, I doubt it's an egg thief. But yes rats do steal eggs and so do snakes if you have those. Not sure about mice though.

I'm SURE you were also stressed during that time, hope you (and they) don't face it again!

If they full on molt... and they WILL have to grow back in the feathers they lost... they may not return to lay until the feathers are replenished... that would be normal. Feathers are made of 90% protein and it's amino acids. I recommend at least 20% protein during this time... it HELPS! Animal based like tuna, mackerel, ground beef, chicken... have the good amino acids... they are added into our "vegetarian" feeds that most of us use. Also scrambled eggs if you have extra are a good source of vitamins and minerals including selenium, which seems key to so many things. Note aside from genetics and disease... good nutrition is the KEY to good health and immunity to so many things... and you can see how it directly impacts your egg production.... this is just an extreme example with clear results.

Good luck and best wishes for a rapid recovery!

 

[Elle]

Thanks so much. Do u know how long molt takes? 1x of my girls is barred rock but no feathers from her around so she might be the one laying a couple times a week. The other girls dont look like theyre malting and didnt expect that as we are going into winter soon....
During that time i ran out out of pellets etc i was feeding them out my cupboard but like u said probably wasnt protein rich. They ALWAYS have unlimited fresh clean water.

They're back on their fave grain mix which is an awesome mix from my local dealer which has pellets, wheat grain, sunflower seeds, corn, grit etc in it. They have a feeder so most days its unlimited stock i fill it up every second day but sometimes by then it has run out. I also give them daily grasses and occasionally they get veg from the house like plain sweet potato mash, pumpkin, strawberries, egg grit. Does their diet seem adequate? Am i missing anything?? how long in ur experience will it take them to get back to laying (probably how long is a piece of string )

 

[aart]

The lower the nutrition, the longer the molt may take.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

how long in ur experience will it take them to get back to laying

The string thing is about right.

It will vary according to the condition they were in before it started and by individual in addition to how "hard" the molt is. Most birds who go through a normal molt will be out of lay for about two months minimum in my experience. Some will be more like 4 months. It will be heavily impacted by current nutrition. And it will also be effected by daylight hours... which is what triggers the laying hormone.

I don't know about your mix, as it depends on ratios. Sun flower seeds are high fat and corn only has 7% protein. Grit is irrelevant to me. I can share some basics... Most chickens will do well with between 15-20% protein (depending on breed and age/laying). About 4% calcium when laying and 1.5 - 2% when NOT laying. Maybe 3-5% fat max. Not sure about fiber level. But vitamins, minerals, and amino acids are highly important. So when you say "pellets".. does that mean for mulated laying pellets? I would feed JUST pellets and offer anything else as a treat separately at NOT more than 10% of their total daily ration. The wheat, I would sprout. And the corn I would SKIP... if they were separate. Does your mix that you are getting from your local dealer have a guaranteed analysis tag on it somewhere? If so that should answer definitively if your feed is adequate. It sure SOUNDS tasty, but that isn't always a good thing.

Mind you, I am treat MISER! To me nutrition is the base building block to health (after genetics) and I breed my birds.

I was proud of myself for not jumping to conclusions and being a hag to you! Since I know we ALL have things happen sometimes. Running out on day two before you refill probably isn't that big of a deal. I figured you were human enough to share what you had in your pantry while they were out too... being brave enough to share your mistake in a public forum. It's a great learning opportunity for others to see exactly how feed directly effects production as well.