Slowed production

[Driley62]

Anyone else in the northern part of nys(at or north of albany) notice a slow down in egg production? I know moult is right around the corner and our flock has yet to show signs of it. It's the only thing I could see being the cause as there are no added stressors to their situation. Everything has been the same for them just like throughout the summer. No diet change, no flock additions(as of this recent), no moves...nothing. just slightly shorter days and now cooler temps have started to arrive but not freezing. Lowest its been at night so far is 52°. I know it's not the end all be all nor is it that big of a deal I know they'll lay eggs again. I just noticed a slight but steady decline in daily count of eggs.

Thanks all.

 

[nuthatched]

It's less day light hours and they could be getting ready to molt

 

[Driley62]

It's less day light hours and they could be getting ready to molt

That's what I figured but thought it was kinda early. It's their first cycle as is my first time experiencing it. It just seems oddly early to me. I was getting 10-11 daily had one go broody(late july) which dropped down at the same time to 9-10 daily. Now it floats between 7 and 10 daily. Today was the lowest at 7 which officially being in September and the time where it does cool down but temps are still sporadic as is light(kinda...gets darker earlier with heavy cloud cover but lingers longer on clear evenings). But August for us is fairly consistent temps high 80s to mid 90s. I've just noticed the difference. Slowed production is not the end of the world don't get me wrong. At times it seemed I couldn't give the eggs away and we being a family of 3(almost 4[oct.1st due date]) certainly could not keep up with it ourselves. So the slow down is kinda nice...even though I have some that'll be laying here somewhat soon.

 

[nuthatched]

Every morning, chickens get up and think to themselves, "Now, how can annoy and confuse my human today..."

 

[aart]

It's their first cycle as is my first time experiencing it. It just seems oddly early to me.

How old are they, in months?

The day light hours really start decreasing near the beginning of August.
Now we're only 3 weeks away from Equinox.
My older birds have slowed/stopped laying starting a few weeks ago.
And a few are dropping feathers, the male is always to first to start molting.

 

[Driley62]

How old are they, in months?

The day light hours really start decreasing near the beginning of August.
Now we're only 3 weeks away from Equinox.
My older birds have slowed/stopped laying starting a few weeks ago.
And a few are dropping feathers, the male is always to first to start molting.

Theyre like 13 months old. Other than the slow down there's no obvious signs of the start of molting. Our senior roo has zero sign of it as well. Our started to slow in August as well but it was gradual. One went broody, then I started to get 2 less(including broody), then 3 now 4.

I'm hopeful before they truly start, our youngsters will start in with laying. Our youngsters two breeds are expected to start roughly the 13th. Now I know that's not guaranteed, but 4 of the 8 based on their breed and average will start as early as the 13th based on experience of others with the breed. Then the other 3(had a male in the group) can start laying as early as Oct. 11th.