Craigboy53
Songster
We have four hens, all 2.5 yrs old. One Easter egger, and three olive eggers. We got them when they were a year old, and we have consistently been getting 2-3 eggs a day. In the winter of 2021-22, I maintained lights at 15 hrs daily, an and they laid all winter. Last fall(2023) we decided they needed to moult, so I didn’t turn the lights on when the day length decreased. As intended, they moulted starting in Sept. When the feathers stopped falling, about middle of November, I put the lights back on. Within a week we were getting the usual two eggs per day. Come February, we had an unusually warm period which lasted almost three weeks. We should have been -10C, but daily temps were hitting 12-15, with a couple days at 19C! Egg laying continued. Then came March, and winter came back, with daytime -3, nights -8C. Now we started getting one egg per day, then after a week, only an egg every other day, an then they stopped. Haven’t had an egg in two weeks now, although day temps are 8-10C, nights 1-2C. They have constant access to layer pellets, and I feed them a bowl of mash every morning, about 12 oz volume. They always finish the mash, but for last two weeks, they are eating 1/3 of usual pellets. I throw a handful of scratching the run in the morning. They have constant fresh water. About once a week I’d give them a bit of fresh greens, dandelions in the summer, broccoli in the winter.
The coop was thoroughly cleaned during the warm spell in February. Mucked out the roost and the run, put fresh shredded leaves in there, and fresh wood shavings in the nest boxes.Vacuumed what I could, scraped and steam cleaned the perches. No cleaners or chemicals of any kind.
They appear healthy, eyes are bright, feathers glossy, behaviour hasn’t changed…..just no eggs.
Any ideas anyone?
The coop was thoroughly cleaned during the warm spell in February. Mucked out the roost and the run, put fresh shredded leaves in there, and fresh wood shavings in the nest boxes.Vacuumed what I could, scraped and steam cleaned the perches. No cleaners or chemicals of any kind.
They appear healthy, eyes are bright, feathers glossy, behaviour hasn’t changed…..just no eggs.
Any ideas anyone?