why is there a decrease in egg production??

[racefanz]

I have 10 girls. 3 are about 1.5 years old, 5 are around 35-40 weeks old and 2 are around 25 weeks old or so. I'm not sure who is isn't laying, but when I had 8 chickens I was getting 5-6 eggs a day so I at least know that 5-6 of them are definately laying....or had been. I got the 2 younger chickens a few weeks ago and since then my egg production has degreased to 1-3 eggs a day! I live in Maine and it has been getting colder now as well as the sunlight has decreased. I've heard that when sunlight decreases so does egg production, is that true? Should I have a light on in the coop at night to keep them warm and to increase the amount of light they are exposed to? Please help!! My husband is still offering people eggs and now that we aren't getting as many the demand can't be filled!

 

[Domestic_goddess]

I'm thinking either early molt...or more them likely it's getting cold and egg production lessens during winter. Some chickens will not lay every day, maybe only every other day. Your Egg amount sounds about right for that many chickens. I have 2 coops, one with 4 hens and one with 7 hens and I make sure they have a nice layer of straw around the coop and light on at night to keep them more comfortable. Good luck!

 

[wombat]

You'll probably lose about 10 weeks of production in the 1.5 year olds when they molt.

The rest may slow down for the winter. You can add some light to get the light levels back to 12-14 hours a day for the ones that are still laying. It's usually better to let the molting ones go ahead and have shorter days and rest and recover, though, so if you're keeping them all in the same place, it's a judgement call.