Very Few Eggs

[cluckcluckgirl]

In the summer and fall, my 12 hens averaged about 9 eggs a day. Now, I'm lucky to get 2 eggs a day out of them. Their coop never drops below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and they have access to fresh, clean food and water daily. There aren't any predators around, and no other reason for stress. They all seem healthy, and I have a light on for them, but what could cause the decrease in egg production? Is this big of a decrease normal?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Is your light to give them 14 hours of daylight or for heat? Decrease in daylight hours has caused my 8 layers to go from 7-8 eggs to just 3-5 eggs a day. I didn't use supplemental lighting this year. I have 3 layers that are production breeds (AC, WL, Arucana and WL/EE mix).

How old are your girls? Mine are all under two years - after 2 years you can start to see a decrease in egg production. I've also read something about how if they are hatched in the fall they tend to skip winter laying and start in the spring.

What breeds do you raise? Certain breeds are not prolific layers to begin with and the added stress of winter causes some to drop production even more. I have a mixed breed flock - so some are production and some are just ornamental. The productions tend to lay either every day for a period of time, skip a day and start the cycle again. The ornamentals drop an egg every 2 days or so.

Are they molting? My WL molted 4 months ago and still hasn't resumed laying. I can't fault her. She laid something like 48 eggs in a row before taking a day off. Then she started a pattern of laying about 5 days and taking a day off & repeat.

The last thing I would wonder is if they have a build up of worms. Have you tried giving them any garlic powdered scrambled eggs or let them eat the insides of a ripe raw pumpkin to worm themselves? I would try those things and see if you get an increase in production.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Their light is for both purposes.
They were hatched in February.
We have RIRs, EEs, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and a Jersey Giant.
None of them are molting.

Can you inform me about what worms are (not the wiggly thing)?

 

[bobbieschicks]

You can do a google of chicken worms and find a vast amount of pictures and information about them. Chickens have worms in their intestines - some level of worms usually exist in them and if there is an overload of worms things like - low egg production or eating too much feed - are signs of the overload. You might also find evidence of worms in their poop if there is an overload.

One of my Lavender Orpingtons developed roundworm this past summer. here's the thread about it https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ure-box-update-yes-roundworms/20#post_9742221 I wormed them all with an over the counter dewormer that was suggested on BYC. Later I found out that it's good to use more natural methods so I switched to deworming them with garlic powder sprinkled on scrambled eggs and letting them in the insides of a raw pumpkin.

Hope this helps.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Thank you for the thread. I looked at it and none of my chickens' poop looks like that.

 

[bobbieschicks]

That's good - maybe they don't have an overload of worms. It wouldn't hurt to let them have a pumpkin to go at or some scrambled eggs with garlic powder sprinkled in. Then at least you've "dewormed" them sufficiently. You can still eat their eggs after using natural methods - you can't always eat them with over the counter meds.

It could just be the time of year is causing their slow down. The good news is that this weekend starts the shift and within a couple of weeks we'll start getting slightly longer days!

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Thanks for the advice! I began to get worried that my chickens had worms, but once I saw your pics, I knew they didn't. I will probably feed them garlic and eggs today or tomorrow. Believe it or not, we have a 5 year old RIR hen who is laying about 4 eggs a week, even now!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Yep that's why RIRs are so popular! They may be my next chicken breed.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

I love them a lot! Of course, I love all my chickens!

 

[clairebear]

RIRs are totally cool chickens. They lay well for me and have nice attitudes. Try adding a light to the coop and I'll bet they start laying well again.

Mine did. Good luck!