Slowdown in laying....

[dpenning]

So my nine girls are giving me two to three eggs per day. Some are year olds and some are two years. What are the common culprits for a slowdown? I know the days are getting shorter but not that short yet. I did put a light I to the co-op a couple of weeks ago just In case no one is moulting yet but ill start them on a feather fixer with my next feed purchase just in case. The flock is three buff Orpington three leghorn and three Easter eggers.

 

[snow5164]

Moulting ,
Age,
Lack of light,
Lack of nutrition
A change , any change

 

[PlymouthRockBBredSebright]

its just getting later in the year so they are slowing alittle

 

[aart]

I did put a light I to the co-op a couple of weeks ago

What kind of light...on a timer ...how many hours per day?
Using lighting can be tricky, must be kept consistent...and won't necessarily keep them from molting.
Feather Fixer is not a good molting feed...too much calcium.

 

[dpenning]

What kind of light...on a timer ...how many hours per day?
Using lighting can be tricky, must be kept consistent...and won't necessarily keep them from molting.
Feather Fixer is not a good molting feed...too much calcium.

The light is just a shop light hanging in the coop that comes on at 5:00 am so as the days get shorter they will always have 12 hours of light.

I thought the point of feather fixer was to help them through a molt?

 

[aart]

The light is just a shop light hanging in the coop that comes on at 5:00 am so as the days get shorter they will always have 12 hours of light.

I thought the point of feather fixer was to help them through a molt?

You'll have to keep an eye on the ever shortening days(until Dec 21st) and adjust the timer accordingly.

'Feather Fixer' has a misleading 'name'.
If you look at the fine print of the nutritive values you'll find it has 18% protein, which may be an improvement over your 'regular' feed and thus might help with the molt, but it still has ~3-4% calcium which is too much for non-laying birds.
When FF first came out it lauded it's proprietary external parasites curing capabilities,
which was later was exposed to be sulfur, an ingredient already in many feeds, they then stopped that campaign...so maybe now are advertising it as a 'molting' feed.<shrugs>

 

[dpenning]

Thanks for the education! I'll look for a higher protein feed when they start molting. Preciate it!

 

[Kiki]

Mine birds are starting to molt. I bet you start seeing feathers any day.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for the education! I'll look for a higher protein feed when they start molting. Preciate it!

I'm not sure what brand name you buy buy you can check out the protein amount on the grower feed of the same brand name. It is usually higher than the layer. Usually.

 

[dpenning]

I'm not sure what brand name you buy buy you can check out the protein amount on the grower feed of the same brand name. It is usually higher than the layer. Usually.

Yeah, the grower crumble i'm using for my ducks and chicks is 20% protein so I can just use that for everyone when they start molting. I've got some good pics and video of Junior swimming with his sibs going after some greens I put in the water. I'll have to charge my phone before I can post. :|