one forlorn little egg ...

[BarredBuff]

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.

Before I sold my old hens in late late September, I was getting 4 eggs from 15. I even kept them in every few days or so and still very few eggs. But my pullets are giving me anywhere from 8 to 11 eggs a day. Out of 18 pullets, but some of them arent laying yet.

 

[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,...

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.

I have two hens that are going on three, four hens that are going on two, and three who are six months old and have never started laying yet. My mothers chickens are doing the same. It makes you wonder,...maybe they are planning to take over the world????

 

[ORChick]

Glad to know I'm not alone 2 of mine are almost 3, the other 2 will be one year in March. One of the older hens was injured some months ago, and stopped laying then; I thought that might have been her *holiday*, but no, she stopped again last week. The other one stopped 3 weeks ago. The 2 pullets each layed for about a month, and then stopped. I suppose they will get back on track soon, though slower than in summer, but for the moment there are NO eggs. We are having a cold snap now (don't laugh, you that are in really cold areas; high 20's IS cold for here ), so maybe when that is over ... When I got the chicks this last Spring I anticipated 6 layers this Winter, but 2 of my older girls didn't make it through the Summer

 

[country freedom]

Makes me wonder how people used to go without eggs for about the entire winter, broodiness/raising chicks, + the times of molting/stress thru the other times of the year.

If you could just go with the flow, how would you change your eating habits for the times without eggs?

I plan on getting Bantams, as there are just 4 people in our family now.....as our children are growing up and moving away.

I am planning an open air coop without electricity - I plan on my hens on not laying thru those times - giving them a rest, so to speak.

Those times will be spent by me learning new recipes that don't need eggs, and probably more patience being learned as well by me, for when my DFiance' and two youngest children WILL end up buying store bought eggs. I don't eat many eggs.

I hope I know what I'm talking about here.

I do understand people sell, or use eggs in other ways for income, and using eggs for feeding growing families.

 

[ORChick]

Makes me wonder how people used to go without eggs for about the entire winter, broodiness/raising chicks, + the times of molting/stress thru the other times of the year.

If you could just go with the flow, how would you change your eating habits for the times without eggs?

I plan on getting Bantams, as there are just 4 people in our family now.....as our children are growing up and moving away.

I am planning an open air coop without electricity - I plan on my hens on not laying thru those times - giving them a rest, so to speak.

Those times will be spent by me learning new recipes that don't need eggs, and probably more patience being learned as well by me, for when my DFiance' and two youngest children WILL end up buying store bought eggs. I don't eat many eggs.

I hope I know what I'm talking about here.

I do understand people sell, or use eggs in other ways for income, and using eggs for feeding growing families.

I agree about letting them have their rest - I think that Mother Nature planned that for a reason, so I don't add extra light in their coop in the Winter. I could probably get through the lean times OK without eggs - except that the lean times always seem to include Thanksgiving and Christmas :/. To combat that I want to be able to put a few away (in the freezer, or in the back of the 'fridge) to get over the Big Baking Season, but, like I said above, this Summer wasn't good for saving eggs. I plan for more chicks in the Spring so maybe next Winter will be easier. My flock is only there to provide eggs for my family, with extras for friends and neighbours; if I were selling eggs this would be a harder time.

 

[Beekissed]

I've never provided supplemental lighting for my chickens in the winter and never had a problem with keeping enough eggs in the house.

I've even continued to sell my eggs throughout the winter months....until this year. This is an unusual event in my chicken life.

I've always allowed my girls a slow down in the winter months and feel it is best for their homeostasis to allow their natural cycles to happen.

I think the trick is to keep enough chickens to make sure that you have eggs aplenty in the winter and moult times. If one only has 4 chickens, I could see that there would be an egg shortage when they stop laying. I keep a flock of 30 or more, so I usually have plenty of eggs during these times.....usually.

 

[country freedom]

I've never provided supplemental lighting for my chickens in the winter and never had a problem with keeping enough eggs in the house.

I've even continued to sell my eggs throughout the winter months....until this year. This is an unusual event in my chicken life.

I've always allowed my girls a slow down in the winter months and feel it is best for their homeostasis to allow their natural cycles to happen.

I think the trick is to keep enough chickens to make sure that you have eggs aplenty in the winter and moult times. If one only has 4 chickens, I could see that there would be an egg shortage when they stop laying. I keep a flock of 30 or more, so I usually have plenty of eggs during these times.....usually.

LOL I am not planning on having just a few, more like between 12 - 24 hens + 1 - 3 roosters.

 

[Beekissed]

Then you should be sitting pretty in the winter!

There are always about 8-10 gals in my flocks that lay all winter....they are even picking up production right now. I had 5 eggs today instead of the three I had been getting. I'm hoping this is a sign of return to normal as we know it.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

I downsized my flock this year and in that is where part of the problem is. I too never put a light on my chickens in the past,..I just had a large flock. I don't sell eggs, but my family eats a lot of eggs and we do depend on the quality of the eggs. We all have gotten so use to the freshness and them being just so downright good! I bought store eggs and they don't even have a taste,... . I am at the point of rationing my blue EE eggs to just special stuff,...She lays 2 eggs every 3 days like clockwork,...(she gets treats for her good work too) That is another thing,..my EE hen is laying, and she is molting,...she has never stopped laying in the two years she has been here. She must be Super Chicken! I hope this cayenne pepper works!

 

[curly_kate]

My hens just came out of a long streak of non-laying. Not sure what prompted it because it started during the hot end of summer, but stretched into October. No sign of a major moult. At that point, we had introduced some new chicks, so maybe it was the stress of some new ones coming in. Now the newbies are laying and the oldies have picked back up again, so we're up to about 9 a day from 15 hens. Once the days got shorter, we did put a light on them on a timer, so that they get an extra 2-3 hours of light. Also, we added sunflower seeds to their rations for extra protein. I'm not sure if it was actually either of those factors that made a difference, but I'm just glad to be out of the drought. It's awfully frustrating to feed 16 chickens and only be getting 1-2 eggs.