The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: NorthWestPoultry.co.uk on April 15, 2010, 07:19:10 pm
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hi guys i keep many breeds of chickens welsummer /wyandotte / barnevelder to name but a few .
last year i have a great amount of eggs
every year i sell my birds and get in new pullets but this year
i seem to have a real problem with the amount of eggs im getting say i have 8 welsummer im mebey only getting
2 eggs per day 5 barnevelder 1-2 eggs per day ?? until last week i fed theam massay layers pellets
but now im giving theam growers pellet as a freind advised me to give theam growers just to see if that help theam
pic up abit
all i can think is something is getting in and taking the eggs as im sure the hens are not eating theam
any thoughts
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could be a rat or even magpie/crow getting into the eggs. I'm getting 9 a day from 11 girls but today (gloomy weather ) that dropped to 5 I think.
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i just recently had the same problem, really frustrating aint it.
we dont have as many chucks as you, but ours went through the molt as normal during the winter
and then when the spring started to come in they went of laying.
at that time i went over everything in my head to see that i hadnt missed out on anything or done anything wrong.
i couldnt think of anything.
at that time i remember i was mixing corn with their pellets and for a couple of days i was just giving them corn as we had no layer pellets.
i quickly got a bag of layer pellets and stopped mixing in the corn, after a couple of days the egg production increased again.
i dont know if this is going to be of any help, or if i have just been waffling on.
hope it gets sorted out soon.
let us know ;)
langdon :chook:
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I had that problem very suddenly at my last home. Couldn't think what it could be - one day I just sat outside the run and watched, and a bloody big crow came down, landed in the run, blatantly walked up to the shed, came out with an egg in its beak, put it down between it's feet and flew off up into the trees. I waited a few minutes longer and it came and did the same thing. I then put in a cat flap and left a dog in the run that I knew was safe with the hens. Did that a few days in a row, and production went back to normal! It must have forgotten after that because it didn't come back.
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we have 200 birds the best we have had is 150 and thats onley for 2 weeks usualey get 100 feed is a nother as well as wether .we try not to have birds no older than 2 yeres and cock birds everey yere
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thanks for responces guys i do reckon its something to do with crows/rats
:-[