why aren't all my chickens laying eggs?

Question

i have 5 ameracuna(easter) chickens. they are about 8 months old and only 2 of them are laying. does the colder weather have anything to do with it?

Answer 1

Chickens need at least 14 hours of light every day. This stimulates their pituitary gland so they can lay eggs more often. They also need laying mash, and sometimes people also feed them oyster shells to give them extra calcium to help make the shell stronger. One thing that you might have over looked, is enough water to drink. If you live where the water freezes, you will have to get something like a dog dish that plugs in to keep the water from freezing. If the chicken coop is drafty or too large for the chickens to warm it up with their own body heat, the energy that they could use to lay eggs will be going to keep them warm.

It is easy to see who is laying the eggs. Check their combs, and the laying hens combs will be bright red and shinny colored. Flip them over in find where their pelvic bones are. Lay you fingers on top of their feathers to see how wide they are down there. Non-laying hens will only be about 1 finger wide, while laying hens will be about 3 fingers wide.

Answer 2

Yes, colder weather AND shorter days in relation to the length of night affects chickens' egg-laying. That's why commercial laying houses, in which eggs for the supermarkets are produced, keep the lights on 24/7; it "fools" the chickens into thinking it's daytime ALL the time. Chickens and most birds normally reproduce during the warmer months, when their chicks would have the greatest chance of survival, and warmer months usually go hand-in-hand with longer days. Even though chickens are domesticated, they still retain many of their ancestors' traits, and egg-laying during the spring and summer is one of these.

You also did not mention what you are FEEDING your chickens. THIS, too, can affect egg-laying, since there are specially-made "laying mashes" designed to stimulate egg production and promote strong eggshells, and if you're feeding plain grain feeds, your hens will not be as likely to produce eggs. Also, your chickens are still quite young at eight months, barely old enough for regular egg production, so just by giving them some time and being patient you might wind up with more eggs than you know what to do with, even from just five hens, unless you REALLY love omolettes!

Answer 3

No... all chickens do not lay eggs at the same time.. Some go into a MOLTING and they do not lay eggs... with only five chickens, you may have only two that lay eggs at any one time.

Oh yes.. the winter time does reduce the egg production because it has to do with the light available....Chickens will lay eggs only when the light available is increasing or at
best steady. In the wild this generally limits production. If the chicken goes "broody" and starts to sit on the eggs to hatch them, she'll stop laying. Removing the eggs does help to prevent her from going broody.

However, in commercial production where the light regime is controlled and the eggs are removed, a chicken can lay over 250 eggs a year regularly and over 300 under top-notch performance conditions

Answer 4

Yes, the weather does have something to do with it. Chickens tend to stop laying all together by the time winter arrives. Its mother natures way of keeping things in balance. If chicks were to hatch in the winter they would not fair well at all and would most likely die. The chickens will start laying in the spring. The warmer it gets the more regularly they will lay. Typically "egg laying" breeds tend to lay one egg a day. Your chickens are still young yet. You will get more eggs next year.

Answer 5

A chicken lays egg naturally. It is the bird equivalent of you ovulating. You produce eggs without having hormones or sexual intercourse. The hens have had no contact with a male, so their eggs are sterile and would never hatch. If they had been fertilised the yolk would be the placenta feeding the embryo. Very nutritious and an excellent source of protein.

Answer 6

Are you feeding them "Layer Pellets" ,they have to have "Hen Scratch" it has Corn.Barley.Oats & Wheat. I only recommend bread as a treat! In winter their production will go down,moulting stops production too,but they should be finished moulting by now. They don't need a Roo to lay eggs,they need a Roo to firtilize the eggs,but if you don't want chicks don't worry about a roo.

Answer 7

Hi it as to do with the lentgh of daylight & if they are in the moult or not...hens that are kept for commercial use are kept in sheds with a light on 24/7 so they are tricked into laying all the time as all animals use the light & lenth of day for there breeding seasons...the other two you have that are laying can & may stop like the others have unless they are kept in light...Regards Jake
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PetsSecondChance

Answer 8

are you sure they are hens not roosters and no they will lay all year with the right food laying mash take the eggs they lay keep the shell put in the oven and dry them out break them up real fine let the chickens eat them it is calcium this will help there shells to get harder.If they are all hens they are still young to lay good they will lay and again get them laying mash not just corn.

Answer 9

it could have to do with the weather, some of them may not have quite matured, or they might be trying to brood and when they brood they stop laying all together and since they are young and there are eggs laid by other chickens the might be brooding these eggs.

Answer 10

some may have performance anxiety..put on some barry white on, turn the lights down low,and a lil bit of champagne in the water bowl....leave some cigerettes for them too...