Weather

[gillisjordan]

We had a good spell of weather and were getting 7 to 11 eggs daily from 11 hens. Sun was shining and eggs were dropping, the last week it has been colder and damp and wet and we are down to some days 4 eggs a day. Is the weather affection egg production?

 

[aart]

Egg production isn't usually affected by weather changes unless they are extreme changes.

Any other changes happening around the coop...new birds, new food, etc?
Do your birds free range?
How old are they?

 

[Ridgerunner]

How many days in a row has this happened? Is it a one day event or has it been consistent over a few days? A little history could really help in figuring this out.

Extremely hot or cold weather will often affect production but regular variations should not affect it that much. Drastic changes ion length of daylight can have an effect, but we are talking night and day, not sunny versus a lot of clouds.

If it is a one or two day event, something may have stressed them. Since it takes just over a day for an egg to make its way through her internal egg making factory that stress would have been a couple of days before you saw the egg production drop. It’s also possible that you just hit a bad production day. A hen doesn’t lay every day so you may have just hit on a day where they all decided to skip. I’ve had that happen.

Probably the biggest cause on this forum for a drop in egg production is that they are hiding a nest on you. They’ll do that sometimes.

If you see a significant drop like that once every three days or so and there is no evidence like egg shell or a goopy mess in the nest, a snake is likely visiting and eating however many eggs it can hold depending in its size, then staying away until it has digested them. Canines like fox, coyote, or dog will also cause an egg to disappear without a trace. Humans will also leave no evidence. Most other critters should leave evidence behind but sometimes it is not always easy to find or the hens may be eating the broken egg shells.

When hens go broody they stop laying. Usually that’s not all the hens at one time but it can become an epidemic. I have two broody right now plus one that I just broke from being broody and has not started laying again. On a good day I get four eggs out of my seven hens.

Disruptions can change how many lay like Aart said. Have you added or taken a way chickens so the pecking order has changed? Changed their housing or how you manage or feed them in any way? Do you have a new dog they are not used to? Did they run out of water for a day or so? Do you add lights and has that changed recently, though this time of year that is not likely in Nova Scotia. Has there been any change in their routine?

If your hens are ranging, you can try locking them in the coop or coop plus run and see if production increases that day. If it does they are either hiding a nest or you locked something out that was getting the eggs. You can try marking a few eggs and leaving them down there to see if they disappear. Critters don’t always get all the eggs, just the ones that have already been laid when they visit. It’s also very possible this is just a temporary blip and production will bounce back really quickly. Nothing is really wrong.

Any history of how long this has gone in and any changes to housing, flock make-up, or how you manage then would be really helpful in narrowing it down, but sometimes these things are just not easy.

 

[gillisjordan]

We are in Nova Scotia and our Temps have been dropping from 20+ degrees celcius to some nights almost freezing. I consider our temp drops and rises to be somewhat extreme. It happened over a few days. Today was sunny again and a bit warmer and we are back up to 7 eggs today

 

[gillisjordan]

Flock hasn't changed. They have a coop and run so they don't free range. Nothing new to diet and no change in routine.

 

[gillisjordan]

We don't have snakes or anything big enough around here that could be taking out eggs. It's rare to even see a 7 inch grass snake, rare as in I've seen 1 in the last 15 years or so haha. They have no place to hide a nest, there's a few that always lay in one corner so I know they're not eating eggs on me because they are always there when I get home from work

 

[aart]

We are in Nova Scotia and our Temps have been dropping from 20+ degrees celcius to some nights almost freezing. I consider our temp drops and rises to be somewhat extreme. It happened over a few days. Today was sunny again and a bit warmer and we are back up to 7 eggs today

I'd agree, that's extreme.

 

[gillisjordan]

I'd agree, that's extreme.

June 8th and still covering our tomato plants because it will go from 20 in the sun to freezing point during the night. We are the only other place in the world besides a dessert I'm sure haha