4 chickens and only 2 eggs

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catm

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4 chickens and only 2 eggs
« on: August 18, 2011, 10:16 »
After a year or two gap from owning chickens we decided that as we've moved and are now able to keep them in our garden that we'd start keeping them again. We got point of lays earlier in the year and they started off well 3/4 eggs a day then two of the birds decided to go broody...leghorn bantam-doris and black araucana-betty...we managed to get them off the brood by keeping them in a hanging dog cage for 2 days/nights (with food and water)...a tip found on a forum, and they started laying again quite quickly. Since then they have gone broody again a couple of times but 'the cage of shame' has again been successful. There has been no signs of broodiness for a number of weeks now but doris and betty haven't started laying again...are they likely not too this late in the year? We always kept older hens and never had any problems, infact they basically kept themselves only asking us for clean food water and bedding but these young birds have been hard work in comparison. Any tips on encouraging egg production? They feed on kitchen scraps, layers mash ( their preference over pellets) and some mixed corn and i treat them to a tub of live mealworms once a week.

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Lindeggs

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Re: 4 chickens and only 2 eggs
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2011, 12:56 »
Hello catm, welcome to the forums.  :)

Am I correct in thinking you kept hybrid laying hens before - the standard brown hens that are used in commercial operations?  Those hens are designed as egg-laying machines, and broodiness is specifically bred out of them, so it's no surprise that your new little ladies are causing you more trouble!  ;)

You may find that it is too late in the season for them to start laying again, or they may take another little holiday before laying some more.  Really the only thing you can do is keep them in the best possible health so they will come back into lay as soon as possible.  Unfortunately there is no quick cure.

Are their combs still red and plump, or have they faded a bit?  That is often a clue as to whether they are still in lay.


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catm

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Re: 4 chickens and only 2 eggs
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2011, 13:35 »
Hi, Thanks for your reply. Their combs are beautifully plump and rosey so I shall just have to be patient...I have to keep topping my egg supply up with bought ones!
Our old hens were various breeds..light sussex...rhode island...large breed leghorns, araucanas and tiny wiandot (spelled that wrong!) but we got them all at about 18 months old.
We are building a larger pen soon so I may introduce some black rock as we use a lot of eggs.
Thanks again.



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