Jumpstart Hens to Lay Again After Molt
Chickens stop laying eggs for a variety of reasons. Hens may lay fewer eggs due to light, stress, poor nutrition, molt or historic period. Some of these reasons are natural responses, while others can be stock-still with unproblematic changes and egg laying can render to normal.
If you're a backyard chicken raiser, you've become accustomed to your forenoon routine: Wake up. Potable coffee. Collect farm fresh eggs from your backyard flock. As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, you may find fewer eggs when you get out to the chicken coop. It may have yous wondering, "Why won't my chickens lay eggs?"
Nether platonic weather condition, chickens will lay an egg once every 24 to 26 hours. Hens might take a brusque vacation from laying eggs and the reasons range from life stage to when the sun rises and sets.
Some of these reasons are natural while others can be stock-still with simple changes. It's up to us as flock raisers to solve the mystery of why farm fresh eggs might exist missing from the nesting box.
Offset, confirm your hen isn't hiding her eggs and creating a nest outside the coop. Then, before yous go looking for an egg thief, here are five factors to consider that tin affect egg production:
one. Daylight
The start and most common cause of decreased egg production is low-cal hours. Hens demand a minimum of 16 hours of daylight to sustain strong production. Without supplemental low-cal, they may naturally stop laying eggs due to a hormonal response equally the days become shorter.
Hens lay all-time when provided at to the lowest degree 16 hours of twenty-four hours calorie-free, whether natural, artificial or a combination of the two. Some flock raisers use winter as a menstruum of rest for their hens without supplemental lite.
If you're looking for consequent egg production through the winter months, provide additional light to encourage your birds to keep laying.
We recommend using 1 incandescent 25-watt or LED 3- to ix-watt bulb per 100 foursquare feet of coop space. If supplementing with artificial daylight, keep your flock'southward exposure and sleeping schedule consistent past putting lights on timers.
two. Coop Surroundings
If birds are stressed, egg production may suffer. Stress comes in many forms – predators, over-crowding, ambitious hens, loud noises, besides much oestrus or cold, poor nutrition and illness. Check the environment to be certain in that location aren't stressors in the expanse.
Use these tips for keeping the chicken coop stress-free:
- Predator proof your coop with galvanized wire and add metal screens on doors and windows.
- Provide at least 4 square anxiety of indoor space and 5-10 foursquare feet of outdoor space per bird.
- Offering 1 nesting box per four hens with clean, dry bedding.
- Separate hens if the pecking lodge becomes aggressive.
Go along temperatures comfortable in the coop, but not drastically different than outdoors. Chickens, particularly common cold-tolerant breeds, can withstand winter temperatures without supplemental estrus.
If you feel providing a source of heat is necessary, only raise the temperature a few degrees. Hens volition adjust to the cold temperature, but if information technology is 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the coop and nada degrees in the run, they won't exist able to regulate their body temperature.
3. Chicken Nutrition
Another reason for decreased egg product is over-treating and over-supplementing hens. Added treats and scraps can dilute the nutrients in a complete layer feed then the hen is less able to produce eggs consistently.
Laying hens demand 38 nutrients for consequent health and functioning. Calcium is the nigh critical for laying hens; she must consume four grams of calcium each day. Consummate layer feeds are formulated to provide everything hens demand in the right amounts, merely if we provide also many treats, then those nutrients become diluted.
A general rule to follow is the 90/10 dominion. This means the hen's diet should be made of at least 90 percent complete feed.
4. Molt
Around 18 months of age and annually later on, chickens get through molt, which is divers as a period of feather loss and regrowth. Molt normally occurs in autumn and is associated with a decrease in egg production.
Molting chickens redirect their energy from laying eggs to growing feathers. This results in a brief break from egg production. Molt typically lasts viii to 16 weeks, depending on the bird. In one case she has a new set of feathers, egg production should return to normal.
To help hens through molt and render to laying eggs, switch to a high protein feed during molt, similar Purina® Flock Raiser. Once egg laying resumes, transition back to a layer feed college in calcium, such as Purina® Layena®, Purina® Layena® Plus Omega-three, or Purina® Organic Layer Pellets or Crumbles.
v. Hen age
Chickens brainstorm laying eggs betwixt 18-20 weeks of historic period and can lay eggs equally long as her productive lifetime allows.
People often ask u.s.a.: 'How long do chickens live?' This is a keen connection to egg product. While the boilerplate lifespan of a chicken is 8-10 years, we've also seen well cared-for hens live across that. Only like people, as birds age they tend to slow downward.
Over the form of a hen'southward lifetime, egg product volition acme at about 250-280 eggs during their offset year laying eggs. After that, the number of eggs produced each year declines until she retires.
A hen tin keep to exist a valued member of your flock subsequently her peak product has passed. Retired hens provide great companionship and oftentimes become leaders in their flocks, showing younger birds the ropes.
To attempt a layer feed that will assistance your hens lay strong, sign up for the Feed Greatness® Challenge receive $6 in coupons*.
*The Feed Greatness® Challenge is a 90-24-hour interval feeding trial where you volition feed Purina® feed, monitor your flock'southward performance and health, take pictures and receive emails with helpful information.
Source: https://www.purinamills.com/chicken-feed/education/detail/mystery-solved-why-did-my-chickens-stop-laying-eggs
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