why have most of my hens quit laying!!!

[boykin2010]

I have 10 hens. 2 isnt laying yet and 1 is a silkie so i dont expect much from her. I have gotten anywhere from none to 7 eggs in a day. They all the sudden have been laying 2 eggs a day for almost a week now! And it looks as if the 2 eggs came from the same 2 chickens. The eggs i got today were identical to the eggs we have gotten the last 3 days. I dont know what is wrong they have an endless supply of fresh water and an automatic feeder with layer pellets. I live in georgia and right now at nights it has been about 65 degrees and in the daytime around 80 degrees. They have a large chicken tractor to walk around in with grass to scratch in. I give them all scratch feed and treats every day. I just do not know what the problem has been lately. Even the rhode island red hasnt layed for a couple days i think. i am pretty sure the only chickens that are laying good is my buff orp and my cuckoo maran. Can someone please tell me what is wrong with these chickens and how to improve the laying!!! Thank you

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

As the days get shorter it slows the production down. Placing a CFL light bulb in their coop will probably increase egg laying. Just make sure you take safety precautions.

I give treats, also. I love to watch them come running for scratch. You might want to think about less treats, as that can affect their diet. I tell my kids that scratch is like icecream... don't want too much of a good thing!

 

[cletus the rooster]

could they be molting?

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

How old are your hens? Are they a year old? If so, they might be about to molt.

 

[boykin2010]

i dont know they are various ages i got them from someone else

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, last year, I could not understand this problem, I didn't add extra light, had plenty of eggs. Now my layers are going on 18 months, I think that they are molting, (feathers everywhere, but only a few barish spots on the girls) but am getting 2 eggs aday!!!!

Do I add the lights or the pepper to their food?

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, last year, I could not understand this problem, I didn't add extra light, had plenty of eggs. Now my layers are going on 18 months, I think that they are molting, (feathers everywhere, but only a few barish spots on the girls) but am getting 2 eggs aday!!!!

Do I add the lights or the pepper to their food?

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

Mrs. K :

Well, last year, I could not understand this problem, I didn't add extra light, had plenty of eggs. Now my layers are going on 18 months, I think that they are molting, (feathers everywhere, but only a few barish spots on the girls) but am getting 2 eggs aday!!!!

Do I add the lights or the pepper to their food?

If they are molting, add more protein to help them to develop those new feathers.

I add crushed red pepper and all my pullets finally laid an egg--not saying that did it but... Yesterday I had 19 eggs from 22 pullets...today 14

They are still working on getting it all together. I will faint if I get 22 eggs in one day!

I have not decided if I will add lights or not...I'm in Texas and our days are much shorter now but they are still laying and newbies coming along...I may add light to do the 14 hr day if they suddenly stop laying. We are still in the 80's...tonight we have storms coming our way, may have large hail...am praying we get rain...we very dry this year.​

 

[TigerLilly]

Mine totally stopped laying about a couple weeks ago. Tried the crushed red pepper for almost a week and got nothing...next week, I'm going to (carefully) hook up a light for those extra 'daylight' hours!

 

[Judy]

Don't waste time on pepper. 14 hours of daylight, good feed, oyster shell, and perhaps a bit of protein supplement are about all that will make a difference. And if they are molting, only time will fix it.