Only 1 egg a day from 6 hens !

[choptank330]

I have 6 hens, I am only getting one egg a day. The hens are all around 8-9 months old except one she is two, So i dont expect a egg from her every day. I believe that only one of them is laying because its the same looking egg everyday and its always layed before 10 am. If anyone could give me some advice of what is going on. I am new to chickens

 

[choptank330]

here is what egg looks like

2 blk australorps

1 RIR

1 New Hampshire

1 Buff

1 Wyndotte/RIR (lay a white egg )

 

[Fred's Hens]

Since we in North America are going through the darkest period of the year, with the shortest days of the year, the photo reactive chicken has a hard time laying a bunch of eggs. This is nature's way. Everything in nature "rests" in the winter. The chicken will too. If you feel inclined to push them, you can provide a few hours artificial lighting, say from 4-8 am, using a simple bulb and an inexpensive timer.

 

[missnu01]

here is what egg looks like

2 blk australorps

1 RIR

1 New Hampshire

1 Buff

1 Wyndotte/RIR (lay a white egg )

I am feeling you man. I am also new to chickens and I have 2 roosters, 4 hens and 7 chicks and I only get one egg a day sometimes 3 days in a row, sometimes every other day.

I know only one of my hens is laying. I think that one is too old, one is too young, one is laying, and the other is still broody over the totally feathered almost as big as her chicks. I am a week away from taking her chicks from her so she'll go back to being a chicken...that and she looks ridiculous trying to sit on 7 chicks that are almost her size.

 

[amberflea]

probably not the same chicken laying either, they have a 24 hour cycle, and don't lay everyday at the same time like that for very long...
Winter means less light and less eggs being laid, that is a good thing, the chickens need to rest also. I do not put artificial light in my coop to get more eggs, I don't think that is healthy or normal for the chickens... but to each his own I guess.

 

[choptank330]

probably not the same chicken laying either, they have a 24 hour cycle, and don't lay everyday at the same time like that for very long...
Winter means less light and less eggs being laid, that is a good thing, the chickens need to rest also. I do not put artificial light in my coop to get more eggs, I don't think that is healthy or normal for the chickens... but to each his own I guess.

so you dont think it is the same hen laying everyday? i have gotten one egg a day for the last 7 days

 

[choptank330]

I am feeling you man. I am also new to chickens and I have 2 roosters, 4 hens and 7 chicks and I only get one egg a day sometimes 3 days in a row, sometimes every other day.

I know only one of my hens is laying. I think that one is too old, one is too young, one is laying, and the other is still broody over the totally feathered almost as big as her chicks. I am a week away from taking her chicks from her so she'll go back to being a chicken...that and she looks ridiculous trying to sit on 7 chicks that are almost her size.

did you get those all at one time or did you introduce the chicks at a later time

 

[popsicle]

so you dont think it is the same hen laying everyday? i have gotten one egg a day for the last 7 days

I don't think it's the same hen either. Several of the breeds you mentioned would lay similar looking eggs. As mentioned by other posters, only the best production breeds will give 7 eggs a week; and I think that's even rare and not every day for very long as they do need a day here and there to catch up. I have eight laying hens right now and am getting one or two eggs a day this time of year. The best layers for me this time of year are the Jersey Giant and Brahma, though my hatchery RIR (production red) and Barred Rock are also laying (leghorn hasn't laid an egg in several weeks).

Also, why do you say the Wyandotte/RIR lay a white egg? I have RIR and Wyandotte and neither lay white eggs.

 

[choptank330]

She is a mix, and I am not sure to why, but she does lay a soild white egg. Shes older so I very rarely get a egg from her but when I do i know its her egg it white! She also has two other sisters that also lay a white egg.

 

[jeapa]

I have 8 hens that are all 7 months old and I usually get 8 eggs a day for 4 out of 7 days with the other three days 6 or 7. Last week Was a great week and I got a total of 52 eggs from them. I do have a light in the coop which comes on at 4:00pm and I shut it off at 7:00pm. I have the light on mainly for me so I can see when I go out there to shut up the pen and check on them. I think the quality of their diet plays a big role in production no matter how much light they have.
My Mom had chickens and my grandmother before her, but I am new to this myself. I am learning a lot from the old timers thread and from the fermenting feed thread over in the meat bird forum. I have been feeding my chickens FF since they were 8 weeks old. I am very happy with the results. I have started keeping track of their egg production and I plan to update it regularly on that thread if anyone is interested. Check out the FF thread there is a lot of good info over there. There are pictures of my flock in my gallery if anyone wants to see them.