Why Aren't My Chickens Laying? Here Are Your Answers!

[Cass]

This is a very helpful thread. Thank you. I have 3 layers and have noticed that production has all but stopped. I do believe it is light as they now sleep from 5:30 pm till 7:30 am, and they could be moulting. My question is, is this it till Spring? I am not interested in using artificial light.

Yes. (the short answer)

The longer answer is "it depends on the breed." Keep checking for eggs daily....the day after a sunny day you might still get an egg from one of them. Many breeds start laying again in January as the days start go get longer. Some other breeds start again in March, with almost all starting again in April.

And now you see why you can find cheap or free hens in the Fall. Everyone is downsizing and only feeding the birds they want to breed in the spring through the winter. (Personally I am canning all my birds that haven't been good layers. By "canning", I mean butchering and putting them in pint jars for future eating)

 

[SavannahsBrood]

Thanks, for the replies. I just got worried, being new to having chickens that i may have bought bantams rather than standard australorps. I figure that several things are going on. First is these hens have never been around roos. Second, the change in environment. Third is winter time , shorter days. I'll post as things happens.

 

[cl0udydaze]

I have tried the light but mine goes on at 3am is it better to break it up like that? I have one that lays and 2 that used to everyday but for over a mo now they have stoped.the others are to young to lay. they are not sick ,have plenty of food and water I also give them scraps. I cook egg shells for them to and sprinkle over the scrap,I grind them.. I also give meal worms and crickets for a treat.So what am I doing wrong?

 

[cjpines]

I have tried the light but mine goes on at 3am is it better to break it up like that? I have one that lays and 2 that used to everyday but for over a mo now they have stoped.the others are to young to lay. they are not sick ,have plenty of food and water I also give them scraps. I cook egg shells for them to and sprinkle over the scrap,I grind them.. I also give meal worms and crickets for a treat.So what am I doing wrong?

I'm having the same problem.

 

[Cass]

I have tried the light but mine goes on at 3am is it better to break it up like that? I have one that lays and 2 that used to everyday but for over a mo now they have stoped.the others are to young to lay. they are not sick ,have plenty of food and water I also give them scraps. I cook egg shells for them to and sprinkle over the scrap,I grind them.. I also give meal worms and crickets for a treat.So what am I doing wrong?

I'm having the same problem.

To many treats are like too much candy for humans....inhibits their consumption of the food that they need for egg producation.

And I didn't beleive it would make a difference either. I mean, they are my babies, and I wanted them to be happy, so I wanted to give them all the goodies in the kitchen.

Someone told me that too many treats can lower egg production. And "too many" is subjective and different for each breed of chicken.

Soooooooo, I stopped feeding ANY treats for 2 full weeks. Almost killed me, but I did it. At the end of 2 weeks I was getting 9 eggs a day from 13 hens. (Mine are not production birds, so that is very good for the breeds I have in my flock) I found that my flock won't lay if they have too many carbs....like the bread I bring them every Friday and feed all weekend. Sigh. But the ducks can eat it and it doesn't affect their laying.

Try it. Stop ALL treats for 2 full weeks and see if you start getting more eggs. And make sure you are feeding a high quality Layer feed to your flock, not scratch grains....corn is a carb and inhibits egg producation.

 

[cl0udydaze]

thank you will try that .I hate doing that they love the treats .We switched the light to night instead of morning to.

 

[cjpines]

To many treats are like too much candy for humans....inhibits their consumption of the food that they need for egg producation.

And I didn't beleive it would make a difference either. I mean, they are my babies, and I wanted them to be happy, so I wanted to give them all the goodies in the kitchen.

Someone told me that too many treats can lower egg production. And "too many" is subjective and different for each breed of chicken.

Soooooooo, I stopped feeding ANY treats for 2 full weeks. Almost killed me, but I did it. At the end of 2 weeks I was getting 9 eggs a day from 13 hens. (Mine are not production birds, so that is very good for the breeds I have in my flock) I found that my flock won't lay if they have too many carbs....like the bread I bring them every Friday and feed all weekend. Sigh. But the ducks can eat it and it doesn't affect their laying.

Try it. Stop ALL treats for 2 full weeks and see if you start getting more eggs. And make sure you are feeding a high quality Layer feed to your flock, not scratch grains....corn is a carb and inhibits egg producation.

I'll try this. Tks

 

[218403]

I just read the article that started this thread back in 2010 and I am still looking for assistance with about half of my chickens that are not laying. The conditions, food, water, and light are the same as our good laying chickens. The only difference is the nesting box situation (the new chickens have nesting boxes "inside of the coop" where as our older girls have nesting boxes that are an extension of the coop that stick out the back side for easy collection. Also our older girls have 7 nesting boxes (although they pretty much use two of them) and the new girls have three. Could this be our issue?

This is what I posted on another thread:

I was reading the other posts about chickens not laying... We purchased a variety of chicks back in March this year (they are now going on 9 months old.) The Lakenvelders and one of the Ameracaunas are the only ones laying regularly. We have 5 Ameracaunas, 2 Australorps, 2 Black Copper Marans, and 3 Salmon Favorelles that just aren't producing at all. (One or two of the blue Ameracaunas produced some over the summer but have since stopped.)

How long should we wait for the girls to start laying? Could something be wrong? We also have an older bunch of girls in a separate coop (all rhode islands) that are a year older that the newer girls. They have produced non-stop since about 4 months old. They all get the same conditions, food, etc. so we are stumped as to what may be going on?

We are in Michigan.
Any thoughts??

 

[Beekissed]

You are comparing production birds with regular dual purpose birds and there isn't really much comparison when it comes to laying. Hatchery RIRs are bred for high production and that means even laying in the winter months, but they will burn out greatly in their second year and start having laying issues big time.

Your newer flock came into laying maturity in the fall, just when daylight hours are shortening and affecting the hormones that dictate laying production, so they were just born at the wrong time to prove themselves before the usual winter slow down laying patterns could affect change on their hormones.

You may have a few birds in your newer group that can go ahead and produce past those seasonal changes as a pullet, but that's individual to the bird in most cases, when dealing with dual purpose breeds.

You can artificially stimulate those hormones by using winter lighting in the new coop but you probably still won't get the standard of lay you are getting out of your production birds.

 

[218403]

Thanks. My RIRs are just shy of finishing up their second year with us and are still producing like champions. But the younger gals have just had a hard time. We do have extra light in the coop but maybe not enough to get them stimulated. Will add more to see if it helps. I hate the thought of not seeing any eggs out of them until spring. (My daughter and I thought it would be fun to have a variety of breeds and certainly we LOVE the personality of the Salmon Favorelle.. but I think we probably should have stuck with the awesome producer of the RIR.)