Since the weather has cooled down here our chickens have stopped laying as much. Also have shorter days so that effects egg production too. You can rig a heated light in the coop which helps some.
Add a light to the coop. I use an auto timer so the light comes on in the morning before the sun comes up. That way chickens still go to roost when its getting dark in the evening. So the amount of light matches the pre winter sunlight.
Short days and chickens, cows, goats, etc all produce less. Adding some light in the coop may help. Let the hens know you'll only have room for four come spring and see how they respond.
We have 7 hens that are 3 years old and another 7 that are in their first winter. The newbies out egg the old timers about 2-1 and I reminded my wife why we should not be naming chickens. This ain't no boarding house.
Like said above, cold, low light, and most likely coming out of molt.
Best way to avoid problems like this is to have pullets laying at the end of summer. They will lay right through the winter pretty well, and lay great through the next spring and summer.
Cull them in their second fall before they molt. Normally 18 months. Or buy new pullets each spring to get you through the winter months. But then you can end up feeding way too many hens that aren't doing anything.
Yep, they do that every fall.....molt can start as early as the first week of August.
It's all about the light, eggs are a seasonal food.
High(~20%) protein feed, timed white lighting(not heat lamp), and new pullets every spring.
The extra cockerels and oldest hens in the freezer,
will give you some meat and good stock for slow egg times.
We all do it our way. I never have a winter without eggs---sure some will stop/about stop during the winter, but the younger usually keep laying pretty good. Here, I usually add chicks around late April--first of May. When they start laying good October/Nov and their eggs get up in size, I then sell the ones close 2 years old. I never want hens over 2 years old.
I never run a light(but I would if needed), except when I was doing all the breeder chickens---needed all the eggs I could get to Hatch all the chicks I could. The lights work Great for me. My breeder hens slowed down to about 20 eggs a day----I set up 8 lights over app 20 pens---a lot of eggs would be layed before daylight. In a couple weeks or so after setting the lights up they were up to about 50 eggs, then kept climbing to close 100 a day---dead winter---then they slowed back down quick---my chicken pens are 1/2 mile from my home---lights running on solar. I got up one morning and went to the pens at 4 am---the lights were not on----should have been on at 3am---found the problem---lights back on and in 2 weeks they were climbing back up good.
Some say the light makes the hens lay out earlier in their life, but that had no effect on what I was doing because I never kept a hen over 2 years old.
Hens can lay for years. A lot of people keep them until they pass and might get eggs from them when they are 5, 6, even 7 years old. Years ago I had some 5 year old hens---I think I got like 5 eggs in a year. For me, the ones that are over 2 years old start laying a little less and less each year. So I replace them. A lot/most hens molt during the colder months---less daylight hours has a effect on that. If you are feeding them a good feed---that's good. If you want to increase their winter laying---I for sure know running a timer light will increase their laying----on 1 to 2 year old hens. If left alone----just fed good---they will start back---might be a few weeks or even a couple months??
Top production takes light and warmth. Commercial layers are kept at a comfortable temperature and lots of light. As hens age, production decreases. My dad adds powdered chili pepper to the feed to warm them up, claims increased egg production.
I was hoping the FF was a good correction to my misuse of corn. I am back on layer feed now, and the FF was a little higher. Cost was a driver for me making the corn mistake.
If you let them free range they will get extra protein from other sources most of the year.
You can also feed them all your table scraps, along with giving back their egg shells for the calcium.
There's very little a chicken won't eat.
I watch the cost of their feed real close But Never at the cost of their health. I Do free range and grind/make their own 16% feed which saves me Dollars per bag.
I just reread your entire thread. I concentrated on your responses.
You only have a small flock and it's been 6 weeks since no eggs and they free range.
Correct me if I got something wrong here in my reader's digest version.
And you did give them only cracked corn for awhile. Which tells me you crashed
them into molt. I have read the protein percentage on the bags of feather fixer
and I don't see where it is high enough to warrant the extra cost of that grain.
Just your basic layer mash, or crumbles should do the job. Just keep them on it.
Your birds should have some laying in them yet. Not as good as the first few years.
You can get some pullets started now to take over. If your hens are free ranging, do you
know where they are laying ? For mine, if they free range from mid afternoon to evening
they have already laid the majority of the eggs and they are in nest boxes in my coop.
If you get some hens of different breeds or colors from your older hens, then when you
get ready to cull the original birds, you can tell them apart real easy.
I mumble when mine go into molt, but they still have to be fed. Good protein percentage helps
them build feathers and once that happens, then they can start to build egg production again.
How long they lay varies according to their breeding. Hens that are bred to lay very heavily, like commercial hybrids, will use up their lifetime's worth of production in their first few years. For those, they will start laying a lot less after 2 years old.
Old timey heritage hens that still have their natural seasonal cycle bred in (or rather, not bred out), can still be laying long after their 10th birthday.
Craigslist and other such sites are a great source of free or low cost birds this time of year. Most ads say something like two year old birds not laying. I’m guessing most were bought as chicks two springs ago, started laying last fall as they reached maturity and are now going through their first full molt and resting cycle. A little feed and care through the winter and most will be decent layers again in the spring when days lengthen. Knowing the natural rhythms and life cycles of livestock really helps.
I caught an egg shell in the box the other day and figured something was getting in there. I reinforced the pen, it's pretty tight, no holes. Still no eggs.
Gonna try a white light. I don't have a timer so I'm just gonna leave it on. We shall see if that helps. I do a higher protein feed so I know that's not it.
I caught an egg shell in the box the other day and figured something was getting in there. I reinforced the pen, it's pretty tight, no holes. Still no eggs.
Gonna try a white light. I don't have a timer so I'm just gonna leave it on. We shall see if that helps. I do a higher protein feed so I know that's not it.
Was the egg shell thin, thus easily broken?
I'm surprised it was there, they usually chow down as much as they can get their little beaks on and all that's left is a wet spot.
They're probably molting....or still getting over it.
Light without a timer could throw a worse wrench into the machinery than mother nature already has.
Duration of light is important but so it consistency, any drastic changes can screw things up, and it's not like 'throwing that switch' and the eggs will come, adding light can take weeks to have an affect.
I had one still laying at 14, but not very many. She would lay a dozen or so eggs, take a break for a few weeks, lay another dozen or so, another break, and so on and so on.
Chickens will lay at 5-6 years old. Particularly the heritage breeds. Sexlinks and commercial leghorns not so much
Thing is, feed a 5-6 year old hen for the minimal amount of eggs doesn't work for some. I'll keep breeders for a long time, but culls that went to the hen house are gone by 18 months. Food for me and my family, and a spot for a pullet who will lay much better. I get a better return of Eggs vs feed cost.
I am getting 2 or 3 a day 4 or 5 days a week now. I think they just needed a rest.
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