I only started keeping chickens last year, and after reading the usual books etc, set them up in their new home. It started with 5 (3x Rhode Island Reds and 2x Sussex Whites) They soon sorted out pecking orders and after a very short period of time were inseperable, and there was harmony in the camp! What changed all that was that we lost one of the Rhode Island Reds, and one of the Sussex Whites in seperate incidents, then we were down to three. We were gutted so bought another 4x chicks from the same supplier. Again these now seven all get on well after the initial introduction, but the origionals have now ceased laying. Can anyone tell me why? These birds are pets so are treated very well ( there bed is better than mine). Do Hens stop laying in Autumn or do we have a problem which is not apparent?

-- Geoff Steventon (geoff@shollybank.co.uk), November 04, 2001

Answers

Geoff, I would venture to guess that your older hens are going into molt and have stopped laying while going thru this process. They will grow new feathers(some lose a small amount of feathers, others look "naked"). Molt is determined by the amount of sunlight per day and as it decreases, it triggers a hormonal response in the birds and they drop old feathers and grow new ones. this takes a lot of energy so they will stop laying until they get more sunlight(i.e. a light in the henhouse on a timer) or the natural earth process(will take longer). Eventually they will start laying again, anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, depending on amount of sunlight per day. Whew I love my chickens too.

-- Karen in Kansas (southwind67352@yahoo.com), November 04, 2001.

During the molt you may wish to provide extra supplements (vitamins in their water) and be certain they are warm and dry....which it sounds like you are doing.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 04, 2001.

After they are through molting, they will lay larger size eggs, so even though they will lay less often, they will lay bigger eggs. Be sure they have adequete granite grit and oyster shell to provide sufficient minerals in their diet, a bucket full of fresh cut greens from the yard or pasture everyday works wonders for egg production as well as egg quality.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), November 04, 2001.

How do you guys know who is laying what eggs?? Have had chickens for over 22 years and I never really knew who was whose even when they are sitting on eggs to hatch since they all seem to lay in only a couple of the nest in the coop. I would think that maybe the older ones are just taking a break for a while too. Maybe I should just ask the old biddies whose eggs are whose ??

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), November 04, 2001.

We have a small commercial egg operation producing eggs from pastured hens in a chemical-free environment. We always see our egg production fall in the autumn to about 1/2 to 1/3 of our peak summer- time production. The hens and pullets don't have to be molting for this to occur, it is just part of their natural cycle. The females might be molting but they might not be either. (And, regardless of what you might read in the hobby literature, a hen isn't molting if she isn't losing any feathers.) You can have a light on in the hen house at night, which might help, and it might not! Our experience is that the specific breed has more to do with whether or not they lay well through the winter moreso than do minor environmental factors, like keeping a light on to 'lengthen the day'. Breeds like the production White Leghorns (a white layer) and Production Reds (a strain of Rhode Island Reds laying brown eggs) will lay right through the winter without the light or any other special considerations beyond good nutrition and lots of water. Age can be a factor as well. Our experience is that hens over two years old are more inclined to take a break from laying in winter months regardless of the breed.

To determine which birds are laying which eggs, if you have a lot of hens and pullets, you need to invest in some trap nests. The nest closes on the hen and she is trapped with her egg until you let her out. If you have only 3 or 4 pullets or hens, just watch them closely and get the eggs as soon as she gets up from the nest. You can usually tell the eggs apart and learn which egg belongs to which hen.

-- Egg Farmer (not@home.com), November 04, 2001.

I had a similar situation recently. I separated a setting hen with her 4 eggs from my other hens. She hatched them and they've grown considerably. But I was wanting to introduce them to my full grown hens so they would hopefully have a better chance through the winter (they were hatched out mid-summer). Well, the layers quit immediately. So, because I value my few eggs, I separated them again. They started laying again the next day. I got several good weeks of eggs and then they started falling back on production again (production being 3 eggs a day :) ). So now I'm supplimenting their light a couple of hours a day and so far I've gotten a few extra eggs. But I just started doing that and I'm sure they will start laying again (they have in the past).

-- (hrncirsinok@webtv.net), November 04, 2001.

Helena...I've always thought that you could tell who was laying by looking at the legs and/or wattles. If they're laying regularly the legs will be paler and the wattles will be large and bright red. Just going by my experiences!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), November 04, 2001.

we tell layers from "liars" :-) by flipping them upside down and then feel down by there egg opening :-) and there will be a pointed bone on either side and kinda down. the closer the bones the less they lay. 1 finger =never laid a egg in her life. 2 fingers=once in a while not often though. 3 fingers=good job. this works very well NOTE: not all fingers are the same size. some chickens will just lay small eggs. this way works because went they lay an egg it pushes them apart. another way to eye ball em is the prettier the featers the wosre the layer. happy egging

-- lindsey (lindsey_sham1@hotmail.com), November 04, 2001.

Oh sugar! That means my gorgeous brown and black hen is probably just a waste of feed. But she's sooo pretty! :o) My hens are laying about 4 eggs a day from 13 hens and from what I understand this is a seasonal thing. Also could be age relkated because most of my girls are over a year old.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 05, 2001.

Ok, I have a question too, I have about 23 hens and am only getting 2 to 4 eggs a day! NOw, the majority of my hens are two years old, we expected our new hens to be laying by now, but obviously they aren't.I knew that old hens didn't lay as much but didn't expect it to be this bad. Should I just get rid of all my old ones? Except the ones thaat the girls cannot let go of?

-- tren (trendlespin@msn.com), November 05, 2001.

Hey Tren...do you think they could be eating their eggs? They are so sneaky about it and there may not be any mess left behind. Try placing some egg decoys in their nests and observe the hens behavior. I did this and found the culprit quickly since she jumped right up to get the new 'egg'. Over a year old doesn't mean they lay so infrequently. I have had success with hens several years old.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 05, 2001.