Stopped laying... Ugh

[Murdy]

They're not broody, are they?

The orpington has been off and in for a while. She seems to have come out of it on her own this time. I didn't have to put her in jail.

None of the other girls are out ever have been (aside from the Icelandics which are now gone).

 

[bruceha2000]

Although you don't know me in order to know that I'm smart enough to realized this... I've already compensayed for the Icelandics not being here anymore.

It was supposed to be HUMOR!!!! I put in a wink emoji!!! I assume everyone is smart enough to know that removing 3 layers would decrease the number of eggs laid daily.

I'm not sure when the last time I saw an egg from my orpington or white chantecler.

Orps are heavy birds and Chanteclers are good cold weather birds. I can see that they would cut back in the extreme heat. I wanted a couple of White Chanteclers, rare as hen's teeth down here.

 

[Murdy]

It was supposed to be HUMOR!!!! I put in a wink emoji!!! I assume everyone is smart enough to know that removing 3 layers would decrease the number of eggs laid daily.


Orps are heavy birds and Chanteclers are good cold weather birds. I can see that they would cut back in the extreme heat. I wanted a couple of White Chanteclers, rare as hen's teeth down here.

Mine was also supposed to be humour. I think I'm hilarious. I've been told that I'm an acquired taste.

Only time will tell with the birds I guess. I'm in a dilemma... I want eggs, so I hope that it cools down, but I LOVE the heat and will take every day of it that I can, so I hope it stays hot. Just can't win somedays. An occasional "W" would be nice though!

 

[bruceha2000]

My kidults tell me I have no humor. I think THEY are the ones without a proper sense of humor

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Good on you for going back to the grower feed. It takes like 7-30 days for dietary changes to show up in the flock. If it's the heat, hopefully that will let up soon, too. Of course, if your ladies were headed into a molt, it'll be 2-ish months before you see eggs.

I don't think you see weird eggshells if they're low on protein/amino acids, but production can go down, eggs might be smaller, and yolks and whites can be more watery.

In our limited experience, temporary stressors like changing coops, injury, or losing a flock member cause a lower egg count for at least a few days. Since you mentioned the skunk, predator pressure can also reduce laying. Doesn't sound like that's what you're up against, but we love our trail cameras for making sure nobody's harassing the coops.

Oh, and there are studies about the bioavailability of calcium carbonate vs. oyster shell vs. eggshell vs. clamshell, etc., and whether the size of the particles makes a difference, but nothing seems definitive? The key appears to be making sure your hens like the size/shape of the calcium so they actually eat it, and that they all know where the calcium is and can access it without being bullied.

Good luck on getting that W. Let us know when you see eggs again!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I'm so glad to read this thread. My girls were a year old in May and my Easter Egger hasn't given me an egg in several days. We went from a miserable heat wave to rain/thunderstorms and a seesaw in temps back and forth as much as 25 degrees in 7-10 days. It's been overcast now for 6 days, and torrentially rained for three straight. The run is a muddy disgusting mess. I've just received a truckload of wood chips from a tree service and put a 2-3 inch layer in the worst areas of the run. Wondering myself if the weather, the excessive thunder storms ( 2 - 3 a day) and rain has all combined to slow things down/scare her a little? She is eating, looks the same as always and is in with the in crowd, so I can't see anything visible to cause this. I thought at just 14 months she's too young to molt, but maybe not? BTW she was one of the first to explore the wood chips, so whatever it is, it hasn't affected her curiosity.

Sounds like stressful weather! It could be a factor slowing her laying. Have you seen any improvement yet?

Wet ground is full of pathogens that affect some birds more than others, due to genetics or luck or individual quirks. One our Langshans loves puddles and occasionally gives herself a few days of stomachaches and runny poops if I don't find standing water in their run before she does.

If you see odd poops, a vet can do a fecal float to check for overloads of worms or cocci or something like that. If not and there aren't other big symptoms, it's hard to know what's up.

We're dealing with a similar mystery with a 15-month-old LF Brahma. She went from 4-5 eggs/week to 1-2/month at the end of April. She's not broody or molting. Weather's unremarkable. However, her foot feathers have been growing in at odd angles that make her limp for a couple days at a time. This started the same time she practically stopped laying, so I'm not convinced her achy feet aren't the culprit, or at least a factor.

When she does lay, the eggs are great. She's sociable and her appetite is good...too good. As I was obsessing over her, it started to dawn that our "big boned" girl may be trending towards heavyset, which is a bad thing if you want a bird to have a long life. In May/June, I dove headlong into poultry nutrition to understand how to keep them at healthy weights long term. What a fascinating rabbit hole that is.

Long story short, the whole flock has benefited from her weightloss journey with an upgraded diet and more time on fresh grass. She doesn't look much lighter – she really is big-boned – but she laid an egg Tuesday and has been sitting in the box again already.

No telling if we've solved the problem. It could be a deeper genetic issue that hasn't fully presented itself yet, and slowed laying is the tip of the iceberg, but in the words of @Murdy - we'll take the W.

 

[Murdy]

Good on you for going back to the grower feed. It takes like 7-30 days for dietary changes to show up in the flock. If it's the heat, hopefully that will let up soon, too. Of course, if your ladies were headed into a molt, it'll be 2-ish months before you see eggs.

I don't think you see weird eggshells if they're low on protein/amino acids, but production can go down, eggs might be smaller, and yolks and whites can be more watery.

In our limited experience, temporary stressors like changing coops, injury, or losing a flock member cause a lower egg count for at least a few days. Since you mentioned the skunk, predator pressure can also reduce laying. Doesn't sound like that's what you're up against, but we love our trail cameras for making sure nobody's harassing the coops.

Oh, and there are studies about the bioavailability of calcium carbonate vs. oyster shell vs. eggshell vs. clamshell, etc., and whether the size of the particles makes a difference, but nothing seems definitive? The key appears to be making sure your hens like the size/shape of the calcium so they actually eat it, and that they all know where the calcium is and can access it without being bullied.

Good luck on getting that W. Let us know when you see eggs again!

Well... I have seen a few eggs recently, but I'm out of town and don't want to harass my struggling basement tenant too much, so I'm not entirely sure what's on the go.
I do have some security cameras set up around the house, so I saw 2 eggs laid yesterday, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one more in the compost bin.

Unfortunately, my cameras aren't all that reliable. They recorded when I was walking around the yard with my flash light looking for a skunk, but they did not record me being charged by the little bugger. I haven't seen any indication of it in the run/coop.

It appears that the hottest portion of the heat stream has subsided, so hourly things go back to normal now.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

It's more fun this way.

Well, its sure less frustrating if you are trying to breed your own. I (almost) never know what's going in the incubator, so I have a "culling" project, not a "breeding" project. Understandably, it takes a lot more hatchings to show progress.

 

[Murdy]

Well, its sure less frustrating if you are trying to breed your own. I (almost) never know what's going in the incubator, so I have a "culling" project, not a "breeding" project. Understandably, it takes a lot more hatchings to show progress.

Oh how I wish I had land outside of the city and could have rooster for breeding. Maybe someday.

 

[kathyb1962]

My flock of 5 has slowed to a halt with laying. I've done a little reading and have some theories, and some questions.

First mention is that it's been quite hot here lately. I'm in Alberta, Canada, and our summers do get quite warm at times, but it's been up to 40degC lately. All of my birds are cold hardy, so not necessarily built for the heat. Is this the root cause?

Now... Issue (?) number 2. I used to feed a layer with a some seeds mixed in (whole oats, whole corn, black oil sunflower seeds, barley, scratch... Maybe another 1 or 2 that I'm missing?). I started to notice that the layer crumble was not getting eaten. I had seen a lady on the Web taking about how she just feeds a mix of seeds and she has success, so I switched. Any thoughts?

Also worth mentioning is that I used to put apples in there and they'd be gone in minutes. Now they pick at them a little, but hardly at all. I also put my lawn clippings on the run floor which they love.

I'll be doing a full flock inspection today for mites and such..... If I can catch them. Haha

Thanks all!

Apple seeds are not good for them, the apples are OK but take out the seeds!