Reboot the egglaying?

[billmac]

So I have 13 hens going through their first moult. Getting about 2 eggs a day. All of them were laying for at least awhile but on average their laying hasn't been terrific. About 7-10 eggs a day.

Here's the question: After the moult, is it possible that the hens will "reboot" and start laying again? The ones that either stopped laying or weren't laying great?

 

[Ridgerunner]

When hens molt, they usually either stop laying completely or cut way back on laying. Instead of using the protein they eat and process to make eggs, they use that protein to grow new feathers. Once they are completely finished with the molt, the rate of lay should improve some. Then when the days get longer and it warms up a bit, they really take off. I'll give you a couple of links that talk about the molting process. They even come with pictures to help explain it.

After their first adult molt, which can take months, hens usually lay bigger more regular-shaped eggs. Sometimes the frequency improves but not always. The frequency will drop after the second adult molt, but not after the first adult molt. You don't mention your breeds, but for some breeds, 7 to 10 eggs a day for 13 hens is not that bad a laying rate.

Mississippi State describes molting
http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html

Kansas State feather loss
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf

Hope this helps.