ChknMama50
Songster
I would Never worry about a two day break!! My girls laid like champs for their first full year plus as well ....thought they were just extra happy and healthy then found out that no- they are considered "spring chickens" even though some were born first of June, SO they DO lay year round until they go thru their first molt the NEXT fall....Think we ALL spent many hours on this site READING & trying to absorb as much information we can. I know I have spent and still do, reading. Problem is posting sometimes lacks the emotion so we misinterpret the emotion behind a post ...
We tend to "blame" the feed but as it's been said in several posts, I'm thinking the weather or probably a combination of things has caused our hens to "slow down". I have a hen that has laid everyday since she started last Aug ... This past week she took a 2 day break, was concerned & monitored her activities but she's entitled to rest. I also had another that would take a day off that took 2 days off, I do have one that takes a day off every week and she did ... I only have 3 "hens" they just made a year old.
I feed FR crumbles but the other month only pellet form was available, notice it was yellow and contained more corn than the crumbles did. Just picked up a bag of crumbles, so as much as it's FR the color & ingredients differ. From what I've learned, it's due to what grain is available to make up the Nutritional Value of the feed. I've also learned that sometimes (for whatever reasons) the feed is Made For instead of Made By ... Now I read labels but when we have no choice (HI) between Pellets (Made By) vs Crumbles (sometimes Made For) we take what we get.
Guess what I'm wanting to say is, can't always blame the feed ... Some chickens are "sensitive" to weather conditions (I know when we got alot of rain on the way) and surrounding (neighbor kid got some Roos, decided to house them along our fence line). my girls want to take a break, I'm ok as long as it's not a health issue.
That is when they finally really slowed down- stopped even for a bit when two of the Easter Eggers who lay almost daily overlapped their molt- of course they can't all do it togther ;-) haha so it went from like Oct to Jan... and I'm only NOW starting to consider food- not blaming it!! I was more than happy for them to take a straight up break if it would extend their life and be easier on them- takes a LOT to make an egg(and regrow feathers!) but I was not worried for maybe a bit too long- we're about to start APRIL now and still several haven't laid since.......I don't think...
Thus the by me about ALL aspects of their daily life!! Trust me, I'm way past 'on it' and long for the days when I'd even skip a day cleaning on the weekends when my DH would let them out and put them to bed for me! (and thought we'd get to do now and then with the upgraded digs but instead, I've been going out earlier than ever to check crop(s) and massage them after treatments and medications... It's getting nuts but they're worth it.
(* btw I say "I don't think" re: who's not laying b/c I used to be able to tell you who laid what egg but now my "blue" layer has been laying a green egg almost daily again and the other two who laid two shades of green ones are the ones I do not think are laying- one has crop issues big time and the other I only recently noticed started to not be able to hide how she was feeling... won't get TOO off topic with why- but point is that now WHO knows other than being out there enough to see who's sitting in the nest boxes and who I haven't even seen glance at 'em!)
At this point, they're pets- let's face it! so the eggs are a bonus- to me anyway!! haha
WAY sorry to hear about the roos being suddenly placed at the fence line- that sucks! Yeah I bet your girls are like "whaaa" but they heard them long before surely at least... we hear them for 1/4 mile- the length of our road to our house...DO love that there is no line right up to someone's property- wooded except for ~1ac cleared for house/pasture etc.
Hang in there- and hope you fare better come this fall!! I didn't spend ANY time on here really before that!!