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[herechookchook]

Our 2 lovely girls are on strike and have been for nearly 6 weeks now - they are Orpingtons, and will be 2 years' old in March. We have been gratefully getting roughly an egg a day from them, for over a year, and then, come November 2010, it all stopped. We assumed it was because of the bitterly cold weather and would pass, but alas, we still have no eggs on the 16th of January 2011. They live in an Eglu in a London garden, and are in fine fettle otherwise - eating well, behaving normally, etc. We've added poultry spice to their food, and cider vinegar to their water and they eat the Omlet organic layer pellets, with corn most afternoons, plus some table s"Ooops, word censored!"s. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum! sorry to say, I think it's just the time of year - if you read other posts on here, many people are suffering an 'egg drought' - last year I went from November to February, and it's only because I have some much younger hens this year that I've had anything at all over the winter.

 

It's all to do with the length of the days, and now that sunset is getting a little later it will probably trigger them into laying again soon. The general maxim is that they'll start laying again by Valentine's Day or thereabouts, a long time to go if you are having to buy eggs, I know!

[Ewsee]

Hi

Sometimes they don't lay due to the weather, or they could be getting ready to moult or brood. They could have worms or red mites, I don't think there is anything to worry about, mine stopped laying then began again.

 

Hope this helps

[Cinnamon]

As Olly says,they are pure breed Orps,so will not lay over the shorter winter days.

Things should pick up when we get longer days in spring.

 

They will have a longer laying life than Hybrids,who do lay all year round though