4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[TheCoop]

Hi,

 

I spoke with a relative last night who has 3 hens. They are all 2 years old (approx.) and good layers. They have total free ranging privileges (they live on a farm) and are in good health.

 

Apparently, from these 3 hens, they have had only 2 good eggs in 4 weeks - every other egg has been a softie.

 

I asked if they had been stressed out about anything and she didn't seem to think so and they are also getting enough grit and decent feed.

 

I said it sounded as if they might all have eaten or drunk something that wasn't too good for them seeing as it sems to have affected all 3 of them.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts?? Any info gratefully received so I can pass it on.

 

Thanks.

[BocBoc]

Not sure if it will help you but I'll throw my two penneth in.....

 

When we got our three girls back in March, we would let them free range for a couple of hours in the morning (between me getting up and going off to work), then they would be confined to their run all day til 4 / 5pm when I got home from work. They would then free range all evening til bed time. This routine seemed to suit all of us and we got three eggs a day. A couple of months ago we had a new lodger move in and because he's at home pretty much all day, the girls were free-ranging whenever he was in. The egg production dropped off and most eggs turned out to be softies - quite a stressful thing! After a few posts on here, we decided to return them to their original routine. After about two weeks egg production was back up and we are now enjoying three lovely eggs a day again - we think because they are eating lots of layers pellets whilst they are in the run. So in our case, too much free ranging in the garden = rubbish egg yields!!

 

Not sure if this will help in your friends case as the hens are older and have always free-ranged. Hope they manage to get it sorted

[cordelia]

Worth checking to see if they are getting any oyster shell in with their food and grit, as its that which gives them the calcium for hard shells.

(grit is to aid digestion I believe)

 

friends of my brother gave their chooks a mix of grain and grit (no pellets) and they suffered until they added oyster shell...but also changed to adding pellets too...

 

just a thought

[Egluntyne]

The free ranging will be stopping them getting the optimal nutrition for egglaying. It would be a good idea to cut down on the time alllowed.

 

Also....is your friend certain that they are not laying elsewhere if they free range all day?

[chickencam]

The shells on eggs do get thinner as the hens age but they shouldn't be that bad, so maybe they just need a supplement of some kind.