one forlorn little egg ...

[ORChick]

... is all I have left . After this morning's breakfast there is only one small white egg left; all 4 girls have stopped laying for now. I have a few in the freezer, but not many as there were only 2 laying for most of the summer, and so not many to put aside. I had to buy a dozen eggs yesterday , at the supermarket; even the "Egg Lady" doesn't have any to sell. I need to get more chickens.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

No guarantee there either...
I have 18 (I think ) hens and if they are laying, they are hiding them. Found a big clutch last week, almost 2 dozen. They're all gone and haven't been anymore since I took those.
blasted chickens!

 

[freemotion]

Over two dozen in my layer coop and an average of 3 eggs a day..... :/ To be fair, more than half are up-and-coming pullets, some older hens I'm saving for broodies, and my old faithfuls, who are laying every 2-3 days right now. That is a lot of feed for three eggs! But what precious eggs they are....

You are not alone!

 

[Beekissed]

I'm thinking of trying the hot pepper flakes or cayenne pepper thingy....they say old timers call it "burning off the moult". Anyone ever try it?

My new layers are just now starting to produce and the older ones~3-4 years old~ went through the worst moult they've ever had this year....slim pickin's on eggs around here also.

Did find a hidden nest of 16 pullet eggs in the hay shed...same chicken laid them all. A little RIR pullet...the same one that has been riding around on my sheep, Black Betty.

Found out why she is making friends with the sheep.....she uses their backs to launch herself up to the top of the hay stack!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Bee, that is one smart little chicken.

I haven't gotten an egg in weeks. We have one more dozen left. I just banished another young roo to the holding for freezer pen. Hopefully the girls will be able to relax now and let some of those eggs out. We also started letting them forage in the field this last week and I hope that that too will help. But our temps plummeted. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some eggs.

 

[patandchickens]

Don't get more chickens. You'll just have twice the feed bill and STILL no eggs. Ask me how I know LOL

I look at it as an opportunity to take a vacation from eggs so that when the glut returns I will have a renewed good attitude towards eating 'em perhaps more often than I would freely choose

I've never tried the cayenne thing but have been almost-tempted-enough, and if I were really MISSING the egg supply I'd sure try it. Can't see that it'd *hurt*, the worst that happens is either nothing or 'they start laying a bit but you're never sure afterwards whether it woulda happened anyhow'. Cayenne or other hot pepper stuff is fairly cheap. Try it, tell us what happens!


Pat, actually getting about 4 eggs per day still (now that a couple pullets have started into lay and the campine is over her molt) but giving about 2/3 of them away to regular 'customers' and feeding the rest to the kids for school day breakfasts. Frankly, although I like eggs, I am ok with spending a month or two not eating many

 

[Wifezilla]

I have 5 duck hens and thought I was only getting 2 eggs a day. I just found another hidden nest

Those brats do it just to torture me!!!

Some of my eggs are HUGE 2 yolkers and some are so dinky it's funny. Those are coming from my 2 youngsters that hatched this spring.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

After three years of having chickens this is the first year without eggs at all. They have always slowed down, but never just up and quit. I do have a sweet EE that just keeps laying her pretty blue eggs, but she is the only one out of the nine. So today I went and bought some cayenne pepper,..I hope it works,...never know unless you try,...

 

[BarredBuff]

They will straighten up one day...how old are they?

Noobie Chicken Lady...my hens started that this summer and I locked their feathered fannies in the house for a few days and that helped some. I found nests that had over 2 dozen eggs in em. Made me furious.

 

[Beekissed]

After three years of having chickens this is the first year without eggs at all. They have always slowed down, but never just up and quit. I do have a sweet EE that just keeps laying her pretty blue eggs, but she is the only one out of the nine. So today I went and bought some cayenne pepper,..I hope it works,...never know unless you try,...

Same here....been keeping chickens for many years now and this is the very worst slow down I've ever had. Many people from all over are reporting the same phenomena on BYC. I have been getting only 2-3 eggs a day since August out of a flock of 13 three and four year olds and one egg from a flock of 18 five month old pullets.

I haven't changed any of my methods and I've had older layers before without this much of a shift in laying. Makes one wonder about the similar stories in different areas of the world.