[farmers wife]

50 10 month olds and 25 POL moved them Sunday seem very happy in the orchard - bit of stress & bickering between the old and new but all well.  Only 20 eggs this morning when I used to get 40 odd. Seeing I have 75 hens I was hoping to get a massive increase not drop!  The problem is that I have customers now I cant supply!!! Any help

[kris]

 there can be a number of factors  from  a ib challeng  in the birds  very simular to a cold   how much  daylight or artifucial light are they getting ?
 have u changed or alterd the feed  or protien levels ?
 it could be the stress od the move sunday  can take them  some time to re a just and settle  back down   just a note   POL  iam  guessing are 16 weeks old  check there weight  they need to  be over 1500g  to start laying  but that is breed dependent

[darkbrowneggs]

Any change of circumstances ( move, change of food, new birds introduced to the flock)  will result in lower (or even worse) no eggs. As they are such young birds they may come into lay again, but older birds or traditional breeds would probably wait till Jan to come back into lay


Lighting should help egg production as birds need to eat for around 15 hours a day to get enough sustenance to produce an egg.  Extra light should be given in the morning unless you can provide dimmer switches for the evenings as otherwise they will not be able to find the perches to roost. 

[farmers wife]

They have been together for a couple of weeks and the older ones are used to being moved (once a week).  Food same.  These are pasture raised hens so no lighting as yet but when the weather changes then they will have to be in barn with lighting. The birds were sold as POL but good point will check their weight tomorrow.

[darkbrowneggs]

I was not one for routine worming, but if they haven't been done for a while, or seem to be eating more than you might expect and a bit thin, it might be worth considering.  Also check round vent and under feathers for lice, and check the house at night for redmite.


Shorter days is the most obvious problem, but also predators can be a problem.  Foxes prowling at night [size=78%]can put the birds off lay [/size][/size][size=78%]or rats in the house will upset them, as not only do they unsettle the birds but will take the eggs as well leaving less for you to collect.  [/size]

[Marches Farmer]

Stress of new birds arriving may have propelled older birds into pre-moult egg drop.

[Foobar]

Have you checked that they aren't laying them somewhere else?

[Stereo]

I would suspect the older birds are in moult mode and that's probably that until the shortest day has passed. The POL birds are probably not there yet. POL is a widely abused term. Even hybrids at this time of year will hold off a bit longer.

It's not easy is it? I got told off by a customer at the gate the other day as there weren't enough eggs. My business is pure breeds and they can just about stop at this time. I told him I'm setting up a small flock dedicated to eating egg sales but it takes a while...........