Why aren't my chickens laying as much as they should?

[Deebsra]

Hi BYC friends,
I have 14 Rhode Island Red Pullets, 2 Plymouth Rock Pullets, and 1 California Leghorn Pullet. All of the RIR pullets hatched on September 11th last year but they aren't all laying 5-7 days a week. I actually don't know if all of them are even laying yet. The PR's lay about 5 days a week each and the CL lays about 6 days a week (her egg is the only white one). I get about 8-11 eggs a day total. There are 17 chickens. They are free range chickens, no predators could scare them, their free range enclosure is 66ft long and 3ft wide. It's summer so I thought they'd be at their peak laying period. Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[donrae]

By free range do you mean they're out and about? This always hits my radar when folks say their birds aren't laying. Chickens don't know they're supposed to use those nice boxes we put out for them, they often prefer to lay under bushes, places like that where their little chicken brains tell them their clutch will be safer. I'd say confine them for a few days, see how many eggs you get then, and go on an egg hunt wherever they have access.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sometimes it's the line they were bred from that may not lay at the rate of the breed norm. I agree that 9 month old RIRs near the summer solstice should be laying like gangbusters. What's puzzling is that your other 2 breeds are close to the norm.
Tell me about the diet.
Have you checked them for parasites? (lice, mites, worms)

 

[ChickenCanoe]

By free range do you mean they're out and about? This always hits my radar when folks say their birds aren't laying. Chickens don't know they're supposed to use those nice boxes we put out for them, they often prefer to lay under bushes, places like that where their little chicken brains tell them their clutch will be safer. I'd say confine them for a few days, see how many eggs you get then, and go on an egg hunt wherever they have access.

Eggscellent point.

 

[Deebsra]

They eat organic lay pellets with oyster shell, soy free and free range on our 2/3 acre to eat some bugs a couple times a week (after egg laying hours). I give them scraps from our table if we have some. They love anything red, like strawberries and they go nuts over loquats. Sometimes we give them bread. That's about it I think.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As long as they don't get too many treats(which I doubt since you have enough birds to consume a household's scraps), I'd say their diet is quite adequate. Perhaps limit the bread and up the protein a little with yogurt, meat and fish scraps. Animal protein does wonders for omnivores.
Also, as was previously recommended, go on an Easter egg hunt.

 

[Deebsra]

By free range I mean they have a 66 foot by 3 foot enclosure on the side of our property that they couldn't lay eggs in. We sometimes let them out into the yard, but not till after 4pm. They usually are completely done laying by 1pm.

 

[donrae]

Why can't they lay eggs in the run?
BTW, that's a run, not free ranged......just sayin'.