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

[Cass]

Quote:
That does work for those who have power to their coop. Someone suggested that you set the timer on your light to turn it on early in the morning and let the birds go to roost at the natural end of daylight. Means fewer birds caught on the floor or other compromising positions when the "lights go out". I can't help but wonder if it causes less confusion when the supplimental light is withdrawn in the spring.

 

[BillinNM]

I'm wondering....has anyone tried solar lighting (those of us who don't have power to the coop)? If so, how well did/does it work for egglaying? Does it put out enough light to make a difference?
Thanks!

 

[flocksalot]

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I could be wrong so correct me if I am, but from what I remember solar will work while you have sun, but unless you have a large battery storage/backup it will be off when you need it.

You could try some of those battery operated LED lights that you can stick onto things. The LED's are very bright. The only problem is you would have to turn them on and off. Or you could do like me and put the light low and over the food and or water then leave it on all the time. Doesn't seem to bother any of my chickens and we get tons of eggs to boot. Course our girls can get away from the light easily by jumping on a perchor moving to another spot in the coops. We don't have tiny coops and I run electric cords to my coops.

 

[PsychoChicken]

I cut back on the corn and got almost immediate results! My other Plymouth has started to lay again! I found her "chicken cave" today under a century plant and there was 2 eggs in it. One warm! Thank you everyone for your help! I got some mealworms to give to them as treats instead of so much corn.

It could be that she's been laying this whole time and some lucky racoon has been snatching the eggs but I think it was probably too much corn.

 

[flocksalot]

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Same thing happened to me when I told the neighbor no more corn. Immediately like the next day we got about 3 dozen eggs more from that coop. Just take it easy with all treats and you should be good. A good layer mix should be their major intake. Of course I have some Dark Cornish that we never see eating from the feeder and forage for most of their feed. Our 30 x 40 shed has been picked clean of every bug, spider and mouse they could catch. They are also awesome layers never missing a day even while molting. I'm replacing most of my sons Red Stars with them next spring. Well at least the ones he hasn't named and don't LOVE him. We just love those meaty little "blueberries" as my son calls them.

 

[Okie-Egger]

I recently purchased 18 Red Sex Link hens, 2 Black Sex Link hens, 2 RIR Roosters and 2 Buff Roosters. All of these are right at 1 year old. Are there any suggestions on what I should do to make them comfortable with their new surroundings so they will lay? Also, does anyone see there being any problems with this particular "breed mix", or hen/ rooster ratio? Thanks in advance.

 

[flocksalot]

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We have always heard 1 roo per every 10 hens. Otherwise the roos will be trying to way overmate the hens. Now if you keep the roos seperate from the hens and only allow short congical visits you may be ok.

 

[speckledhen]

A couple of comments-and these apply to my own personal situation: first of all, I don't want my chickens to be forced into laying, pushed to the limits of their bodies abilities. Most of my reason for that is due to losing many hens to internal laying/egg peritonitis. If there is a remote chance that trying to force them to continue laying when their bodies need to rest will exacerbate that, I will not do it. Therefore, I do not artificially light my coops to extend daylight hours, though I do have electricity to each one.

The "oh, just add light" is really too simplistic. All the light in the world will not force a chicken to lay if her body is depleted from a hard molt, illness, etc.

Second: it sometimes has NOTHING to do with the feed. Mine do not get corn on a daily basis. There is a very small amount of whole kernal corn in the 11-grain game bird feed I use as a scratch, but not enough to affect their laying. They don't get table scraps, either. It's layer pellets and Knockout Game Bird Feed (the 11 grain mix, in a.m.)Still, I am getting 3 eggs at most from 19 hens in the main laying flock and it's been that way for quite some time now. Even two of my young layers in other coops have quit, though they just recently started laying. They are only 36 weeks old. Why those two quit is a mystery. Most pullets lay well during their first year, even with decreased light.

There are many, many factors in play in this laying game. Knowing and understanding why they are not laying is great, but it's not always a good thing to try to make them lay if their bodies are not ready, need a break, etc. Some folks disagree with that, but again, hens are living creatures, not machines, as I've said on many occasions.

If I was in the egg business to make money and had hundreds of commercial layers, I would have a different outlook, since maximum production would be paramount and I would turn over my stock every year or two anyway, but that is not what we do here.

 

[saferide sue]

I've only got a micro farm, 6 birds. I've had a go around with the city and have had to move 'em a couple of times. I'm only getting a couple eggs a week. stress probably. I have a friend with a big farm, alpaca to peacocks! Her 30ish chix are giving her only 3 to 6 eggs a day. I asked her about the drop in production. She told me that she has tried lights to extend the day, more calories, more protein, different feed all together and anything else you can think off. doesn't seem to matter what she does or had done over the last 20 years-she has decreased egg production this time every year (we are in south east MI). one thing that she has found that had her confused one season with NO Eggs at all. turned out to be an egg eating chicken! they were actually laying but by the time she got there to pick up the eggs they had been eaten, shells and all!

MI right to farm act should give me the right to keep a few chickens. I have met the GAAMP. I have 6 hens and I sell eggs, the sign is up @ my mom's house and I sell the eggs from there. The city I'm in says that I need a business license to sell eggs at my house. To get a business license I need to be in a commercial zone. I am currently zoned residential. The city says that the MI right to farm act isn't applicable because I'm not a farm. I contend that I am. I have a corner lot, 80' x 140' including easements. I live in a city that is 1.4 sq miles in size. The population is 4500 people. I am not in a flood zone, I am not on a main waterway, I am not near a community well or water treatment plant. We have city water and sewer, not well water and septic. I am .7 miles from a property that keeps horses, in the next town. My friend suggested that I get a DBA (doing business as) such as "cluck country farm" or "whispering feathers farm" or something like and take my chickens supplies off on my taxes. If the IRS considered me a farm the city must? I went before the city council of 7 members to amend the current ordinance which disallows fowl or livestock in the city, to allow for chickens. I brought them 130 signatures, from the homes nearest mine, in a petition to allow: up to 6 hens, no roosters., coops must be 20' from any home other than the owners, the coop must be kept clean and in good repair., food must be stored in a rodent resistant container, the chickens can not leave the property of the owner. Of 7 council members, 3 voted to hold it over for the planning commission, 4 refused to change the current ordinance. Leaving me back where I started. I went to a second city council meeting. Here I brought up the MI right to farm act in a letter given to each council member, the city clerk and the the city manager, before the meeting started. I suggested that perhaps they/we didn't want want everyone in the city to know about the MI right to farm act or we may have people petitioning for a pet goat, pig or ????. That perhaps it maybe a better to reclassify chickens as poultry for the purpose of this ordinance. fowl are after all game birds. chickens are domesticated fowl but and they are now raised for meat and eggs and are now strictly poultry, there is no hunting season for chickens as there is for ducks, geese, pheasant and turkeys. This is where they said the MI right to farm act is not applicable to me as they claim that I am not a farm. they didn't even visit the poultry angle.

Is there an attorney reader who could or would write a letter stating that I AM A FARM. I gave the city manager a copy of the MI right to farm act and he reads it as a document that prevents existing farms from being cited for noise, dust or other disturbances caused by the farm equipment ect. He says that I am not a farm, have never been a farm and can not be a farm as I am not zone for that. I sure could use some help here. I can't afford to hire an attorney, I need a letter from an attorney. opinions from farm owners, sorry to say, doesn't
hold a lot of weight.

Thank you, "Whispering Feathers Farm (?)"

 

[Cass]

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If you live within the city limits and are zoned residential you are not a farm. You can try to get a variance from the zoning board to allow you to keep your chickens, but it will be just that, a varience in the normal zoned residential area.

You may want to be a farm, you may paint your houses and outbuildings like farm buildings, but if you are zoned "residential" then you cannot be a farm. The only way you can be a farm in a residential area is to be in exsistance before the area is zoned "residential" and grandfather in as a farm.

Sorry. "Right to Farm" legislation was written to keep small farms from going under and becomeing residential areas, not to allow those who buy houses with city water and sewer and can be measured in feet to declare themselves a farm.

You CAN sell your eggs and declare the income on your taxes and deduct your feed from your taxes, even if you are not a farm. However you can only lose money for 5 years and then your business is declared a hobby and is no longer tax deductable. For the Feds. State laws vary from State to State.

I wish I could help you, but the City manager is right. You are not a farm and cannot be a farm within a residentially zoned area. Try for the variance to be allowed to keep your chickens.