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Our girl's egg production is tailing off, in April we only got 35 eggs from the 3 of them with a fair few softies and a sprinkling of lash :vom: They've not laid an egg since Thursday now, they have been wormed & I can't see any sign of lice or red mite etc.

 

So I was wondering if this is normal for the time of year or whether they may be coming up to moult, there are a few more feathers than normal in the run but not enough to suggest they are moulting :?

 

They all seem happy in themselves with no obvious signs of illness and I have cut back on treats in the hope that might do something. I had to buy eggs yesterday for the first time since they started laying and couldn't believe the price of a dozen organic eggs :shock:

 

Amanda.

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mmm :think: not sure as to be honest my girls are the opposite - we are over run with eggs at the moment.

 

About a month ago we switched layers brands over to the Allen & Page ex batts range (although I dont have ex batts) but the increase in eggs and quality of eggs has been remarkable.

 

I'm sure you probably have :) , but if not - I would just give them the once over for any lice/beasties etc.

 

Hope you're back to full steam soon! :wink:

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Yes, Redwing, I used flubenvet, they were wormed in February, I'm now wondering if it could be something to do with the food as we couldn't get the usual mash and bought the farms own version. Though I'm hoping that the drought is due to moulting, Mimi is looking a tad bald under her ears and chin today.

 

The last time we couldn't get the usual mash and got another type from a different farm the girls did really well on it, they gained weight and the eggs got bigger but then we found out that it had soya & gm ingredients in it so stopped using it.

 

Amanda

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My girls still aren't laying much and I really can't think what else to try :wall: They all seem to be happy and well and not at all under the weather, though they are a bit light but they've always been small girls and only gained weight on a food that had gm ingredients.

 

They've been wormed with flubenvet again just in case, I've put them back on the organic layers mash a few weeks ago, they've been treated with anti-mite spray ( though they didn't seem to find it much of a treat :lol: ) I've been giving them Zocal D for a while now and poultry tonic, they aren't getting many treats and yet still I'm getting hardly any eggs, they've gone from laying 71 eggs in January to just 16 eggs this month! They also lay about 3 softies a week.

 

I'm beginning to wonder if they are eating them as there is often egg yolk in the Eglu. If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful as I'm having to buy eggs, and I can't think what else to try, I'm even wondering if I should put them back on the awful gm food as that's the only thing they seemed to thrive on.

 

Amanda.

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We've had one egg so far this month! That was yesterday and we also had 2 softies but the softies seem to be getting worse as in not even resembling eggs now and looking more like long thin deflated balloons.

 

I've stopped the Zocal D and am trying the limestone flour and cod liver oil and will let you know if it makes any difference but this has been going on for so long now I'm beginning to think that they've come to the end of their laying days.

 

Amanda.

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Ooh lucky you ANH! I can't get more hens as I already have 3 and I only have an Eglu. I took the run extension off as overwinter they did a lot of damage to the grass and we were limited as to where to move them to let the grass recover.

 

Oh well, that's 3 more in my retirement home :roll: I already have my lovely Lily a 17 year old Felix look alike cat and the soppy Sophie an 18 year old black Manx cat adopted from a friend last November.

 

I left my job in May to have a bit of a rest but with non laying chooks and Lily's overactive thyroid costing me a fortune I think I may be looking for another job sooner than I thought.

 

Amanda

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We are the same we were giving away eggs in April/May but are now at 5 eggs in 3 weeks and am having to buy them.

Have tried everything wormed, added poultry tonic,cut down on treats, went to mash rather than pellets but made such a mess got a rat !!! :wall: so went back to pellets quickly !!!

Am now treating for redmite even though haven't seen any but the back of the tube says pale yolks and combs plus laying out of the nest may be a sign so doing it anyway !

Also on life guard now so my bill at the pet supplier is going up and up but still very few eggs :wall:

 

Any other advice greatly received may try re worming too ? but have been told they do sometimes go off laying especially in the heat !

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Amanda - surely your hens are too young to stop laying yet? From the looks of it you only got them about a month before me. It must be something else surely? I thought it was at least two years of laying before it started to tail off a bit?

 

I've no suggestions unfortunately, I take it you're not giving them too many treats?

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That's what I thought Seagazer! They get hardly any treats now other than a bowl of porridge or marmite on toast once or twice a week and a plum or a few sultanas or mealworms to entice them back into the run.

 

They used to have corn every day but a few months ago when we went to the farm they didn't have organic corn( they didn't have organic mash either and that's when it all seemed to start) so we bought their own and my fussy girls voted with their beaks but thankfully the wildbirds seem to be enjoying it so it's not a total waste of money :lol:

 

I can't think of anything else to try, I've spent ages online trying to find an answer and the only thing that I think it could be is "Egg drop syndrome" it's probably unlikely but I've not found anything else it could be.

 

Amanda

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Did any of them have a moult over winter? A couple of times some of mine have laid through the winter, but then stopped in summer and had a mini moult. They are all laying again now though. I also have a couple of hens who are only into their second year laying and who are only laying softies now, but I also have a 4 1/2 year old pepperpot who still lays a perfect egg every day :? I think some do just wear out sooner than others.

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My hens are still laying like troopers, Buzz & Poppy are laying whoppers now that they are in their 3rd laying season :shock:

 

But my friend, who lives about 10 miles away, has an egg drought too :cry: He only got his first hens last summer, so they're not old hens at all. He's checked for lice, & wormed them so its not that, but he has discovered red mite in his wooden house which he hosed out & scrubbed last week.

Do you think that the red mite might be the problem? Reading this thread shows he is not alone in his egg drought.

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Hellooo All

Hmmmmm mine are the same!!! and I've done the usual round of mites, worms etc etc

I wondered if I should give them their treats again, as I cut out their corn for a little while. Some days we get 2 other days 4 once 5!!! Yet at one time it was a full house almost every day. Maybe they'll pick up in the summer - actually I have no idea its odd - very odd. I even wondered if there was a dodgy batch of food , food which wasn't really layers pellets but non laying pellets!!

 

Ms Tilywondersifweshouldcreateanewdanceoneperformedasaritual

beforetheeggsarelaidtoencouragelaying :)

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So much for stopping treats, whilst I was away at Alton Towers my friend who was looking after my girls ignored the written instructions and had forgotten what I told her so my girls got fed 2 litres of mealworms in 3 days :shock:

 

So we've only had 5 eggs so far this month, but on the bright side the girls have gained a bit of weight as they were a bit on the light side :lol:

 

Caroline at the bed and breakfast we stayed at had lots of Light Sussex and Bantams and said that when the chickens have completed a laying cycle that they often stop laying for a while so if that's the case I do think that my girls are dragging out their rest period for a bit too long.

 

So let's hope that our girls resume normal service as soon as possible :pray:

 

Amanda

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Sadly normal service has not been resumed :( We have not had a 2 egg day since I last posted and we only got 15 eggs last month, mind you that was better than August where we only had 13 eggs and I'm fed up with buying eggs as they're expensive and not a patch on my girls eggs.

 

My mum reckons I should write to Omlet as my girls only really laid properly for a year and she thought hybrids were egg laying machines, the girls seem happy and look fab, but I'm getting to the point where I think I must be doing something wrong or they'd be laying wouldn't they?

 

Amanda

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