My girls have quit laying on me...haven't had anything more than an egg here or there all winter. :( No....they aren't too old...yes, they are getting enough light. I have an 'inkling' that it is something missing in their diet. We get one 'escapee' that wonders around outside of the fence at times....and the next day, we have an egg from her. We can't let them all run loose because my dh's dog just looooves to break their necks. :-( So...what can I do to get them back laying? We are feeding them your run of the mill laying mesh. Should I add in some oyster shells (although isn't that to make their egg's shells harder?)? HELP! I miss my brown eggs!

Thanks!

Tracey

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002

Answers

I've heard that sprouted wheat will encourage them to lay sooner and better.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 19, 2002.

Egg laying can slow dramatically or cease altogether during their molt. do the hens look scraggly, or do you see an excess of loose feathers in the coop?

-- Buk (noaddy@tiredofspam.com), March 19, 2002.

No...they aren't molting. My older girls (2 this month) molted last year so I know what that looks like. However, none of them are molting. :-( We didn't have this problem last year...can't figure it out.

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Lot of things can combine to do this. Winter (day length) is one. Diet is another. Yes - they should have a source of calcium (say oyster shell, or ground limestone or dolomite) - they need it anyway, it builds up their bones, and then some of that is drawn against while they're laying. Down-time once a year is a built-in time of renewal for them, and it helps if you keep a good level of nutrition up to them even if you can't see it being used in production right then. Other items would be greens and protein. Even just gather an armful of weeds and toss it to them each day (or sprouts as said above), and feed a little bulk-buy dry catfood to them as well as their laying mash. Catfood is good because neither cats nor poultry do well with excess salt.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 19, 2002.

the lady I bought my hens from swears by a little salt, molasses and soy

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), March 19, 2002.

Since they seem ot lay better after an outing, might try to feed them something they really enjoy, also might add a daily human vitamin tablet to their water for a few days. Are you supplying them with grit, so they can better digest what they are eating, might try some oatmeal flakes.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

I have been feeding them our veggie scraps: potato, celery and carrots along with bread scraps.

Grit-what acutally IS grit? LOL! Obviously I wasn't raised a poultry girl...horses is my area but things have been going well with the chickens...until now.

Dry cat food....now that's a new one! Never heard that! Sprouted wheat? Hmmmm....I have some red wheat berries in the basement that we won't be using (prefer white wheat)...how do I go about sprouting it for them?

THANK YOU!!! :-)

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Perhaps they need greens. I read somewhere that spinach will make them quite productive.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 19, 2002.

Hello Tracey,

I feed my chickens their regular feed in the morning which is a complet egg pellet mix with 16 percent protein. And in the evening I feed them table scraps except for the meat, (which goes to our dogs). If I do not have table scraps that day, I give them chopped up corn kernels.

They quit laying for a while back in the middle of winter but, when the days started getting longer they resumed their usual laying schedule. That is normal. You may put a light in the chicken coup with a timer to give them more light in the winter but, I personally don't do this as it cost more in electric and is counter productive with the cost of eggs verses electricity.

You say they already molted but, could they possibly be going into another molt. I have seen mind molt a couple of times a year and I think if conditions are right for molting it can happen to anyone.

I will go into my garden and pull weeds and give them more greens. That helps. Mine were boosted the other day when I cleaned the weeds out of my garden. There seemed to be a few more eggs after that.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

You might look for evidence of an egg eater in your flock. It can be difficult to spot. Look for yolk on their beaks. Try putting a "bait" egg in with your flock and see if it disappears.

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

Well, I vote for "TisI" 's answer. This sounds remarkably like what was happening in my coop.

The girls were laying, but "The Black Witch" was getting the eggs. I did several things, and now I'm consistently getting 5-6 out of a possible 7 eggs per day. In my coop the egg eating was combined with feather eating, so I was compsensating for that as well. They have feed available all the time. In addition, each day they get a dish with oats, oyster shell, and hen grit. Twice a week they get a pouch of cat food. I placed about 18 fake eggs in the coop, located everywhere someone likes to lay ie in the nests, and the one corner where the "wanna be broody" hen lays her egg. I raised the nest boxes. The reasons for each of the above are as follows: Oats for more fibre to help with feather picking. Oyster shell to harden shells to make them more difficult to break. Hen grit is a necessity, especially with all the additional fibre they're getting. Cat food to up their protein, to help with feather picking. The fake eggs leave just too many targets around, and ups chances that the "hunter" more often be picking at a fake egg than a real one. I raised the nest boxes because as I use an 'add shavings' approach in my coop in winter, the floor had risen to meet the nest boxes, and the other hens were looking straight in to the nests and had easy aim at the eggs to try and break them.

My next step would be to trim beaks. However, I'm content with the averages I have at the moment, and I have ordered replacement ready- to-lay layers to arrive April 17. I think part of the problem is that I raised these girls from day olds, in the summer, and they had an attached run outside that kept them amused all day. As soon as the snow came, they refused to go out, so they've had very little to amuse themselves this winter. They were bored. So now they're being kept just long enough to give me some hatching eggs so I can learn about the incubating process. They will find another home by April 17. Either a pen built outside if I have time, or the freezer, whichever is most convenient at the time.

Hope this helps with your girls.

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Are you keeping enough egg pellets in their feeder? Make sure they can eat all they want and still have some leftover.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), March 19, 2002.

Tracey--you ARE kidding about not knowing what grit is?

If you aren't: it is small pebbles that allow a chicken to 'chew' their food since they do not have teeth. Please go out and buy a bag NOW as they could get into serious problems (death)if they don't have it. A free-ranger can usually find it on their own. Otherwise provide it for them ASAP! It is about $5 for a huge bag here (25 pounds).Give it separately from food at first to see for yourself how they like it. Provide more than you think they will want so they can get their fill.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Technically if you are just feeding mash they may not need grit, but I don't know a country chicken that doesn't get a bug or piece of grass, no matter how confined. And the green scraps from the kitchen are great for them. Just don't forget the grit!

Have you got any chicken books? They will help you assess your set-up and avoid as many low-production times as you desire.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Tracey, I feed mine the egg pellets, all they want; all produce/table scraps and at night right before they start to wander in I give them some cracked corn mixed with cayenne pepper flakes. They also have a constant source of warm water (it is still cold here) being supplied in a crock pot set on low. Mine have laid all winter!! You might give it a try. Sissy

-- Sissy Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), March 19, 2002.

You say, they are getting enough light. How much is enough?. My first concern when birds quit laying is the amount of light they are getting. They need a constant 14 hours of light a day, every day. If you are feeding a commercial laying mash, grit is not that important. Most commercial feeds have all the nutrients needed and some contain grit also One other thing to consider is the breed. Are these birds one of the heavy laying breeds. Some breeds will not lay all winter regardless of how they are treated.

-- Su at AB (eglady@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Even with the recommeded light my chickens also reduced their laying for awhile. They went from @12 eggs to 2 a day. I have just waited them out and they are producing more each week and are almost back to normal. Could it be a winter slump?

-- connie in md (connie@mission4me.com), March 20, 2002.

LOL! No...I know WHY the chickens need grit....I just didn't know WHAT grit is...meaning what it is made UP OF.

Light- It has been a constant (on a timer) 14 1/2 hours of light all winter.

Looked for egg peckers....and we check for eggs 3 times a day..no signs of either.

No signs whatsoever of molting. Even if they were, as I said, we haven't had (other than an egg here or there..maybe amounting to about 2-3 a month..out of 21 chickens) any consistant laying since about November.

My chickens are Rhode Island Reds. 9 of them are 2 y.o this month...had been laying well...and then ALL just quit. The other 12 are only a year old this month. They started laying around September....did pretty good...and then nothing.

Just completely puzzles me. I have been longing for my eggs again! My dh is threatening a butcher day if SOMETHING doesn't happen soon.

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), March 20, 2002.

If the light they are getting is on a timer, is the bulb incandescent or full spectrum and what is the intensity? Scientists are discovering how the colour of light affects mood via the brain's hormone production - in humans it's called Seasonal Affective Disorder ( SAD ) and it is recommended that we get at least 1 hour of natural daylight ( not filtered through glass windows ) to help combat it.

Might insufficient light, of the right kind, also affect egg producing hormones ?

-- Deborah Hardy (virgil@igs.net), March 20, 2002.

Just a thought, where are you and how cold is it? Some breeds lay well in cold weather, others stop completely. With our schizophrenic weather of late, my girls' egg production has been all over the map.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), March 20, 2002.

We live in Pa. Also, we had NO PROBLEMS last year with this. It is really strange. As I said, ours just haven't decreased....they have STOPPED. I bet I"ve only gotten a grand total of 10 eggs all winter...and that's from my escapee!! That's what makes me think that it's in their diet.

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), March 20, 2002.

This is just a real stray thought - but if you're using incandescent light bulbs, check the wattage. It is possible that the bulb burned out, and someone replaced it with one of a too-low wattage; or that another bulb burned out and they needed the high-wattage bulb that was in the chicken coop, and replaced it with the spare low-wattage bulb they had available.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 21, 2002.

Sorry - more. Check the coop for rat-burrows as well. Rats can get entry through an amazingly narrow space.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 21, 2002.

Try feeding a hot mash daily with soy grits and corn meal mixed with your table scraps. I've always had eggs right thru winter with no artificial lights when I've fed this way. kim

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), March 21, 2002.

Is there anything that could be stressing them? Did you change anything in the coop? Move stuff around? Chickens hate change and it will stress them so much that they will stop laying.

I would also check them for mites. Pick them up and look at the base of their feathers and near the vent for really small crawling critters. Some live on the birds, other live on the roosts and crawl onto the birds at night. If you don't see any during the day, then check your birds in the dark with a flash light. Mites can suck enough blood out of a hen that she will stop laying and can eventually kill a hen.

Write back if you find anything and I will post a web page that will help you identify the type of mite they have.

-- Margarete (forpippin@earthlink.net), March 21, 2002.