.Why aren't they laying??

[HippieChickyMama]

Hello,
My girls have slowed way down on there laying. I have 16 laying hens who are 1 year old and I am only getting about 5 or 6 eggs a day.

We went through a period this summer where we had too many Roosters. All of the day old chicks we got this spring (7) turned out to be boys! We finally had to seperate the boys because it was just too much testosterone. We thought maybe that was why they stopped laying. We culled the boys but they still aren't laying. How do I tell if they are molting? I don't see anything obvious. We also added two turkeys this spring and a two ducks to the flock. The turkeys wouldn't eat the eggs would they? I have a couple of egg customers but now I don't have enough eggs to supply everyone.

We used to get more than a dozen a day now I am lucky to get 5.
Any suggestions?
Thanks and Peace to all.

 

[fl_deb]

I would check them and the coop very carefully for mites, lice and worms. Any of these can cause reduction.
Also do you have artificial lighting staying on so that they get 15 =16 hrs of daylight?
If they were starting to molt you would see feathers laying around here and there.
Any changes, including the boys being removed can cause a slowdown as chickens are very much creatures of habit. So if no improvement after a couple or few weeks after any change, then I would strongly suspect mites, lice or worms.

hope this helps!

 

[HippieChickyMama]

Thanks Deb. Mites, lice or worms....ugh. I hope not! I have been out of DE for the last couple months so it is possible. I haven't seen any though. I will look real close and get some DE right away. My local place that carried it went out of business so I am going to have to buy it online I guess. The DE will fix the mites and lice right? How do I tell if there are worms and how do I get rid of them if they have them?
Thanks again,
A