when will they start laying again

[hawkeye185]

Hi
I have 12 warrens and 8 light sussex hens that have been laying quite well but egg numbers have been falling steadily from the first week in jan we had 91 then week 2 we had 79 then week 3 we had 65 and this week it will be down to about 40

obviously they are not all laying but when can I expect the numbers of eggs to increase?
Should I feed less layers pellets untill they restart laying or continue to feed at the same rate?
I am guessing that things will pick up in the spring but that may be wishfull thinking!
Any tips or advice will be welcome
cheers in advance Hawkeye 185

 

[Chuck]

If they are not too old (you didn't give their age) eggs should increase again when the days get longer and the weather warmer. Unless you can keep the non layers separate they need to stay on the same diet and I would advise keeping on with the normal diet anyway. If they are in a moult, this will be one reason why they are laying less.

 

[hawkeye185]

Hi Chuck
Thanks for the reply The warrens were POL back in july (20 weeks) and have all been laying on a regular basis.
the light sussex are about 28 weeks old and were just starting to lay when we had the snow so I assume that that would have slowed them down somewhat, any way I will have two new sheds for them that I need to erect as soon as the rain stops and I hope that I can settle them in ready for the spring, I plan to split them up into the warrens and a white wyandotte cock in shed 1 and the light sussex with a light sussex cock in shed 2.
many thanks for your reply I will keep you posted, I hope to try out my xmas pressie incubator to see if I can raise some stock for the future when I have sufficient pure eggs from the sussex!
many thanks Hawkeye185.

 

[karminski]

your lucky your girls are young , i have gone from about 10 -14 eggs per day to maybe 2 -3 out of 15 large birds but most of them i think are coming to the end of thier days now but i cant tell whos laying and whos not except the ones who lay white eggs of course :lol: i have people wanting and waiting for eggs but i cant make the girls lay its driving me mad as normally mine really start to pick up mid jan onwards although some are still going though a moult .

 

[darkbrowneggs]

your lucky your girls are young , i have gone from about 10 -14 eggs per day to maybe 2 -3 out of 15 large birds but most of them i think are coming to the end of thier days now but i cant tell whos laying and whos not except the ones who lay white eggs of course :lol: i have people wanting and waiting for eggs but i cant make the girls lay its driving me mad as normally mine really start to pick up mid jan onwards although some are still going though a moult .

You could check which ones are in lay. Just go to the house after they are on the perches at night. Pick each up in turn and holding them under one arm with their tail towards you gently feel till you find the pin bones. If they are 2 to 3 finger widths apart then they are probably laying. If the pin bones are very close together they are not in lay. Then just put a coloured ring on each of the layers.

 

[karminski]

i never knew that just leant something new , but can i do that during the day ??

 

[darkbrowneggs]

Of course - I just think it seems less stressful than chasing and catching them in the day, when it is so easy and calm once they are sleepy in the dark, but if yours like to be picked up and handled then it will make no difference to them.

If you use different coloured rings or rings with numbers on them you will be able to keep a note of how each bird performs.

Birds which come into lay at a younger age, then go on laying when the others are beginning to moult are the ones to keep. The late layers which moult early will never be good productive birds in the egg laying department