I know there are other posts around here, but couldn't find one I thought was spot on with my situation. Like others, I have 17 laying hens, and was getting a steady 14-15 eggs per day, even got 17 twice so far. They are only about 9 mos old, a mix of Ameraucana, Barred Rocks, and Golden Sex Link.
Up until about a week ago they were going strong. Then all of a sudden hit the brakes. We went from steadily over a dozen eggs per day and have dwindled to only 5 yesterday! It was only three eggs when I got home at 5 PM but two more showed up shortly after.
So here is the story: about two weeks ago I switched their feed. This is my first inclination of the slump as they slowed their eating quite a bit. This of course excited me as they had been tearing through 100 lbs every three weeks. The old feed was H&H all natural layer, and the new stuff is Azure Scratch and Peck all natural and organic, if this means anything to anyone else that uses these feeds. There didn't seem to be any reaction at the time of the feed change other than the reduced consumption, and I figured that was because I modified their feeder so they couldn't waste as much, I really don't think they are eating any less.
Our temps have been steadily warming here in Houston, TX. It hasn't been terrible, but this week we just pushed into the high 90's with heat indices of as much as 110F! The coop is covered, and the run shaded. They have steady water supply.
My first thought was heat stress, but then I thought of the egg production cycle. It's a drawn out process, where the hen actually has something like 16 eggs (not sure of the exact number) of all sizes cued up in the system so each day roughly another one is completed and laid and another one is started from the ovaries. So I thought if they have all but stopped laying now, maybe it's an impact of actually a couple weeks ago that would have interrupted the initial creation of the eggs.
Am I over thinking this? I was thinking heat, but now I'm leaning back towards maybe it was just a shift in the feed. At first the consumption decreased greatly as mentioned, and I was excited. But then I think in the last few days it accelerated again. Seems like the bucket feeder was half full for a week and then suddenly empty.
Anyway, has anyone else seen a slump in egg production due to a feed change. I have a friend that turned me on to the feed and he doesn't have any issues with it, so I'm wondering if it was just a bit of a shock to change it up like that and maybe the egg production will recover in another week or so. I'm sure hoping so! Like so many others, I started selling eggs to cover feed costs and now I have a waiting line that I can't satisfy!
Up until about a week ago they were going strong. Then all of a sudden hit the brakes. We went from steadily over a dozen eggs per day and have dwindled to only 5 yesterday! It was only three eggs when I got home at 5 PM but two more showed up shortly after.
So here is the story: about two weeks ago I switched their feed. This is my first inclination of the slump as they slowed their eating quite a bit. This of course excited me as they had been tearing through 100 lbs every three weeks. The old feed was H&H all natural layer, and the new stuff is Azure Scratch and Peck all natural and organic, if this means anything to anyone else that uses these feeds. There didn't seem to be any reaction at the time of the feed change other than the reduced consumption, and I figured that was because I modified their feeder so they couldn't waste as much, I really don't think they are eating any less.
Our temps have been steadily warming here in Houston, TX. It hasn't been terrible, but this week we just pushed into the high 90's with heat indices of as much as 110F! The coop is covered, and the run shaded. They have steady water supply.
My first thought was heat stress, but then I thought of the egg production cycle. It's a drawn out process, where the hen actually has something like 16 eggs (not sure of the exact number) of all sizes cued up in the system so each day roughly another one is completed and laid and another one is started from the ovaries. So I thought if they have all but stopped laying now, maybe it's an impact of actually a couple weeks ago that would have interrupted the initial creation of the eggs.
Am I over thinking this? I was thinking heat, but now I'm leaning back towards maybe it was just a shift in the feed. At first the consumption decreased greatly as mentioned, and I was excited. But then I think in the last few days it accelerated again. Seems like the bucket feeder was half full for a week and then suddenly empty.
Anyway, has anyone else seen a slump in egg production due to a feed change. I have a friend that turned me on to the feed and he doesn't have any issues with it, so I'm wondering if it was just a bit of a shock to change it up like that and maybe the egg production will recover in another week or so. I'm sure hoping so! Like so many others, I started selling eggs to cover feed costs and now I have a waiting line that I can't satisfy!
