Page 1 of 1

Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 10:34 am
by Skinny rooster
:dunno:
Not sure what is happening, production has dropped to only four to seven eggs a day from twelve hens. Two weeks ago I got eleven out of twelve with most days being 8 or 9. Makes me worry, I did buy new feed lately but I think they started dropping before that. With longer days it should be better for them, not worse. It would be typical for something to go wrong just as spring arrives.

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:36 am
by Killerbunny
Is someone stealing them (rat maybe)? We just had to deal with one.

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:28 pm
by Skinny rooster
Killerbunny wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:36 am
Is someone stealing them (rat maybe)? We just had to deal with one.
No nothing stealing them and the nests are clean so no egg eating either. I can tell immediately it will be a bad day because usually everybody wants to lay in the morning and in the same nests so there is a lineup of waiting hens, now however when I go in, there is only one hen or no hen laying. I find the feed ground up small, I actually checked the tags, it looks and smells like chick starter but it labeled correct. Hopefully just a glitch.

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:09 pm
by Brebis
A few about to go into a mid-winter moult? I have several that seem to like moulting this time of year and the little Hamburg hen is the worst!

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:32 pm
by WLLady
the temperatures have just dropped again.....that affects my girls quite a bit. i'm getting 12-15 eggs a day from 45 hens....so you are doing really well actually LOL

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:33 pm
by windwalkingwolf
I'm going through the exact same thing, SR. I chalk it up to the crazy temperature swings. During the day, my birds are free to come and go from the barn and coops as they wish, but when the mercury drops, they just stay in...and inside is not well lit.

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:06 pm
by KimChick
I'd suggest the drop in temperature, too. Out of the 21 hens, I know that 15 of them are definite layers. Yesterday, there were 12 eggs, and today there were 8. (OK, 9 but that one was broken in the nesting box, probably a thin shell. That hen needs to snack on more calcium!) Earlier this month, it has been 8 or 10 eggs a day.

Re: Uh oh, production dropping.

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:11 pm
by Skinny rooster
Brebis wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:09 pm
A few about to go into a mid-winter moult? I have several that seem to like moulting this time of year and the little Hamburg hen is the worst!
No not moulting, the mother already did and is laying again, the rest are too young to moult. Maybe temperature fluctuations maybe feed texture changed too much. I didn't feel to see if they're getting thin but they look alert. I only got two eggs on Tuesday but seems to be back up to seven a day now, so fingers crossed. I don't care about the eggs, I just care that they are ok.