Chickens

Halfpass

Halfpass

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I know this isn't horsey but i hope someone can help.

I have had my chickens about 6 months now. I got them from a friend who reared them from chicks and they had been laying for her. I think they must be about a year old now. They laid very well for me over the summer sometimes getting 3/4 a day ( I have 4 chickens) they slowed down about end oct nov time and they all moulted and since then I've not had one egg. I have friends that have had eggs all through the winter so why haven't I???

They aren't free range as such in that they have access to an outside area but they are in a pen. They look well and have really grown since I got them. They are fed layers and corn and any kitchen scraps they will eat!

Someone said thet haven't laid because they are in a darkish corner of my garden, if this is the case when will they start laying again?

Some piccies so you can see the set up

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I have got about 20 chickens and get about 2 eggs a day at the moment! It should pick up now I would hope.
Make sure the bulk of their diet is layers pellets, not too many scraps and only a small handful of corn each. Its easy for chooks to get fat and that stops them laying. You could try worming them, flubenvet is best.
Good luck!
 
Now that makes me feel better. I thought I was doing something terribly wrong. Do they look well to you? Or a little over weight? I have one very greedy one who try's to steel all the food!! (she is the one in the picture on her own!!) They only get the odd scraps from the kitchen and get layers in the mornig and a small amount of corn in the evening before bed, does this sound ok?
 
Your girlies are so beautiful

Don't worry most hens either stop laying or lay less during the winter months, due to weather and lack of day light. As Clodagh suggested place them on layers pellets or mash, and they should be seeing more eggs at start of spring

I have 40 and at the moment we have about 5 eggs a day, if that!
 
I have someone who does an allotment thing on my land and he bought 8 chickens in the summer and they have a very similar set up home wise to yours. Now at first he had no eggs but now he gets about 6 - 8 eggs per day and his wife is struggling to think up new recipes to keep up with the production.

They are fed scraps and layers pellets I think, nothing unusual.
 
We have 11 and get an average 1 per day at the moment. Some of our hens are 8 years old, and others are rare breeds which don't lay so well anyway, but ti is true to say that when out Black Rocks were younger (they're the 8 yr olds) we got more, they do lay more per year (300/yr) than eg our Poland bantam which I think is destined for 120 per year. It's a daylight thing and from past experience I wouldn't expect many more than we're getting now till Feb half term, it starts to increase from then. They look fine to me anyway.
 
Its to do with the amount of daylight, they need 15-16 hrs of daylight/day, the daylength is now starting to lengthen so they should start to lay again soon. As mentioned before, worm them a couple of times a year with flubenvet. You can put a light on a timer in the house if you want them to start sooner.
 
Also ares are very much goverened by teh weather, when it is cold and wet they seem to think its not laying weather - but as soon as its dry and sunny then they lay. We are down to about 3 - 6 a day from 20 hens and would expect that to pick up to about 15 a day from about March onwards.
 
They will pick up again, mum has about 30 chooks and she's getting about 3 to 6 eggs a day. She has an assortment of pekin bantams and some ex-batts and its mainly the batts that are doing the majority of the laying. Lovely hens btw!!
 
We have got 15 ex battery hens we have had for a year now and at the moment we are getting anywhere between 4 and 8 eggs a day.
It is all down to the daylight hours at the moment, things will soon pick up I am sure!
 
I have 6 and I think we have only had about 8 eggs in the last 2 months. I find that the hens seem to go off lay until the days get longer.
 
i have 25 ex battery hens, they never stopped laying over winter we 2 or 3 a day,went in the other day and found 16 to say i was shocked was an under statement lol.was told they stopped laying cause not enough day light
 
Well, like everyone else, my 4 stopped laying in the middle of November and only one of them has started to lay, just last week. So out of my 4 I am getting 1 egg every other day or so.
 
I have 10 chickens and am getting about 8 a day, they have just picked up over the last two weeks, just before christmas when they were moulting I was lucky to get 2 a day... they will pick up soon .
 
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Now that makes me feel better. I thought I was doing something terribly wrong. Do they look well to you? Or a little over weight? I have one very greedy one who try's to steel all the food!! (she is the one in the picture on her own!!) They only get the odd scraps from the kitchen and get layers pellets in the morning and a small amount of corn in the evening before bed, does this sound ok?

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Just re read the whole post, Do they have layers pellets all day ? (ad lib) Mine will ignore the pellets if they have a choice of other food. So I stopped everything else for two weeks and egg production went up as they were eating proper food instead of fat.. then just give them a small handful of corn an hour or so before they go to bed .
 
Dont over complicate things.... they are chickens. We have 50 or so maybe more and breed them to sell.

Chickens will stop laying over the winter as their bodies are telling them its not a very sensible time to think about chicks.... it has also been cold wet and windy and they do not want to lay in that weather!

Expect a pick up in eggs in early March and by April they should be back to normal. Certainly don't worry about them. They look very healthy and happy and happy hens lay eggs!

We seem to have eggs all year round with ours but then when you have 50 or so the odds of getting eggs all year from a couple of them are much more than if you only have a small amount such as with your clutch!
 
I only have 13 chickens atm they all Freerange, eggs strarted again just before x-mas im not upto 6 a day.

I never worry about not laying this time of year as long as there fit & healthy.
 
How old are they exactly?? If they have just moulted it will take them a few weeks to get back into production mode, if they are over 2 years old it will take longer.
Make sure either pellets or mash are fed add lib and only a few scraps - scraps are NOT a balanced diet for laying hens, they need good quality protien content of around 17% - I find Marriages or allen and page make the best poultry feeds. Make sure they have FLINT grit on offer NOT oystershell as this upsets the calcium -phosphorus ratio in the feed, corn - no more than a handful per bird per day. Worm them with flubenvet - this is the ONLY licenced wormer for poultry - and ignore all the bloody rubbish on poultry forums about feeding it on grapes, It needs to fed IN THE FEED FOR 7 DAYS!!!!!! (can you tell I spend most of the day sorting out problems in people's poultry??!!) Fishmeal can also give them a much needed protein boost this time of year. I currently look after 200 layers and am getting about 160 eggs per day!!
 
Interesting - my 4 x 1-2 yr old hens are laying more or less every day. They are completely free range with access to layers pellets, scraps and corn all day.

Might depend on breed - I have a Light sussex and a black rock, a buff orpington and a grey one (whose breed I cant remember!)

Also have a look at their nest boxes, maybe something wrong with them (not dark enough, soft enough, not enough...)

Also double check that they are not eating them and also that they have access to oyster shell all the time!
 
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Interesting - my 4 x 1-2 yr old hens are laying more or less every day. They are completely free range with access to layers pellets, scraps and corn all day.

Might depend on breed - I have a Light sussex and a black rock, a buff orpington and a grey one (whose breed I cant remember!)

Also have a look at their nest boxes, maybe something wrong with them (not dark enough, soft enough, not enough...)

Also double check that they are not eating them and also that they have access to oyster shell all the time!

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No!! oystershell is not suitable for chickens....!!!
 
Why no Oystershell, Lilym? I know there is some mixed debate on this but it seems standard practice. After some research I found that the only reason not to feed it is that it may provide too much calcium if they have only access to layer pellets as that has calcium in it anyway. Given a natural environment chickens will scratch through sand and sediment particularly around riverbeds where they go for water to seek out these type of particles. And fish protein has been cited as being an excellent source of protein for birds. Grit is also important as that doesnt dissolve in the digestive tract and helps process the food. Interested to hear what your thoughts are? as said mine have access to oystershell but only pick out bits as and when they obviously feel they need it because they get most of their requirements from pottering free range.
 
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