Young Rhode Island Reds Stopped Laying??

[aalmand315]

I have two Rhode Island Reds that turned a year old this past May. They have been decent egg layers in the past. However this past May I noticed a decrease in their productivity. Where I was getting almost two eggs a day from them, I started getting one egg every other day or so. They steadily got worse as time went on. I haven't gotten an egg from them in the past two weeks. My other hens are laying just fine and there has been no changes to their environment that I can tell. They are free range, but I have kept them in the coop for the past few weeks and that hasn't helped. I thought maybe they were laying in the yard but I still found no signs of eggs when they were locked up. I haven't noticed any changes in behavior or appearance and they are not molting at this time. Any idea what is going on?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is no local on your avatar so i am unable to tell if you are even in the Northern or the Southern hemisphere little less if you live in a region where hot weather could be causing your hens to shut down.

Do remember though that hens can do quite well in hot and humid weather, but that hot and arid temperatures is quite difficult for a hen to lay through.

Your hens are turning 2 years old and that means that they are nearing their first ADULT molt. The first adult molt is usually a hens' most severe molt. For every full year of production a hen will lay 20% fewer eggs than she did the year before. So a hen that laid 300 eggs in her first year of production (May 2014 to May 2015) will only produce 240 eggs her second year, 190 eggs her 3rd year and 152 eggs her 4th year and so on. You are are now on the cusp of a 60 egg per year reduction for each of your 2 RIR hens. That is a cumulative reduction of 10 dozen eggs out of only 2 birds. However the feed bill, mortgage payment etc, is on going. Is it any wonder then that commercial poultry men replace their hens with pullets or else force molt their flocks to keep their farm in the black.

 

[aalmand315]

Thank you for your reply! I just updated my location, I live in south Arkansas and so far we have had fairly mild weather for summer. It has been hot and humid, but not terribly so. I will keep an eye on them and maybe they will pick back up in a few weeks.