Zeus welcome the morning with a cacophonic “ cock - a - scribble - doo ” as the sun peeked between the hillside horizon and a thick-skulled stratum of cloud cover . “ Rise and shine , ” he cackled . It was time to wake up the chickens , so I draw in on my turbid muck bang , grabbed my raddled egg field goal and head to the chicken coop . I opened the cage door and off scoot the troop , pass around their wing , eager to bolt as many earthworms as they could find . When I checked the hens’nest boxes , the bollock count did n’t supply up — again : eight hen , five testicle . For the second week in a wrangle , three eggs that should have been there were n’t . Something was n’t proper .
By all bill , these Plymouth Barred Rocks were well-chosen , healthy birds . Just over 1 yr sometime , they were dependable layers . They ate constituent poulet provender , free - ranged around the property and enjoyed as much rude foraging as they could encounter . Their uber - secure henhouse kept out the wiliest of egg - thieving varmints . So where in the humankind were those missing eggs ?
To clear this mystery story , I enlist the assist of Bruce Webster , extension service domestic fowl scientist with the University of Georgia ; Theresia Lavergne , Louisiana State University AgCenter poultry specialist ; and Phillip Clauer , poultry extension specialist with Penn State Extension , all of whom know a affair or two about chicken . These experts helped me sleuth the clue and infer the cause , while also suggesting shipway to repair the situation — unless Mother Nature was involve , that is !
Waning Sunlight, Waning Eggs
From October through February , when the hours of sunlight are at their lowest , hen will slow or even stop produce egg . It ’s how their wheel naturally work , and it ’s the most common reason why poulet - keepers find empty nest boxes .
“ The procreative state of birds is regulated by the amount of twinkle they receive each twenty-four hours , ” Lavergne allege , note that hen call for at least 14 hours of light to defend egg production . “ Hens are stimulated to lay eggs when day length increment and reduce egg laying when day length decreases . ”
To keep the gals laying all winter long , Clauer recommends using artificial lights to augment the raw sunlight .
“ observe a constant day distance of at least 14 minute per day , ” he suppose . “ One 40 - watt brightness level for each 100 straight foot of henhouse is adequate . The lights should be total in the forenoon hours so the birds can go to rest as the Lord’s Day sets . ”
What’s On The Menu?
If minute of sun are n’t the eggs production issue , it ’s fourth dimension to track down for other clues . Lavergne first point to the ladies’eating habits . Are they getting a balanced dieting with muckle of fresh , clean water to wash it down ?
“ It ’s important to ply a nutritionally balanced bed food to your hens to control that they will have adequate levels of protein , atomic number 20 and energy to keep production , ” she says . “ Also , provide oyster shell to your hens will help maintain potent eggshells . ”
Hens need a lot of calcium . regard this : The shell of each nut hold back roughly 2 gm of calcium , and the skeleton in the cupboard of typical advanced egg - laying breed has about 20 grams of Ca . Each egg represents 10 pct of the hen ’s full bodily calcium .
“ While the hen ’s skeleton act as a -calcium reticence to add the demands of egg production , this second-stringer is quickly deplete in the absence of an abundant Ca root in the provender eaten by the bird , ” Webster order . “ In such a situation , the hen will barricade laying ball . ”
commercial-grade layer ration are design to be nutritionally balanced for laying hens . face for a blend that has 16 to 18 per centum protein , grant to Clauer , and you must practice circumspection when using diet supplements . “ Feeding whole grains , scratch feeds and mesa combat will cause the birds ’ diet to become improperly balanced , ” he pronounce .
Sick Chick
Disease is another cause of reduced eggs output .
“ Disease problems can occur under the best of conditions , ” Clauer sound out . “ Often one of the first signs of disease is a drop cloth in egg production . Other symptoms of disease include a sluggish and listless visual aspect , weak eye and nostril , cough , molting , lameness , or mortality in the flock . ”
Symptoms of illnesswill often be present , but sometimes they will not , Webster warns .
“ If a disease is suspect , it is important to confer a poultry veterinarian without delay , ” he order . “ A timely diagnosis may allow effective discourse for some diseases . In the causa of certain virulent disease , like highly morbific avian influenza , a speedy diagnosis may prevent expiration of whole flocks in entire regions , and derogate the risk of zoonotic transmission of deadly disease from chicken to human beings . ”
To protect yourself and your mint against disease , introduce Modern chicken sagely . “ If you wish to increase your flock , buy chick from a reputable hatchery or hatch some of your own eggs , ” Clauer pronounce . “ Adult birds can see healthy and channel diseases . That ’s asking for trouble . ”
Baby Fever
Sometimes , a hen turnsbroody , which intend she require to raise some chick . She ’ll sit down in her cozy nest box on a clutch of ball and scold anyone who disrupt her , sometimes with a astute peck ! This clue is a pretty clear one .
“ When this happens , they stop laying eggs , ” Webster say . “ They are more likely to become pensive if they are take into account to gather orchis in a nest . The problem is most dominant during natural spring under rude daylight as the hens add up into production due to the stimulating force of increase day duration . ”
To prevent this problem , Webster advise collect eggs at least once a day .
“ Daily eggs gather is also an important practice to bear on the condom and quality of testis for human intake , ” he added . “ If your living accommodations adroitness permit , hens can be moved to unlike living quarters periodically to interrupt their adhesion to specific nesting sites . ”
Aging Gracefully
A hen can know for many years—8 to 10 or more , in fact — but as hens age , they eventually lose their ability to produce testis .
“ hen can consist expeditiously for two laying oscillation , ” Clauer says . “ After two or three years , however , many hen decline in productiveness . This varies greatly from hiss to snort . full layers will lay about 50 to 60 weeks per lay rhythm . Between these cycle per second , they ’ll be cut off by a rest period of time called a molting . Poorer stratum and older biddy will molt more often and place less . ”
To keep racecourse of your hen ’ eld , experts advocate looping a different - colour leg band on each wimp establish on when it was introduce to the tidy sum . “ It ’s not unusual for a backyard deal owner to keep several genesis of bird and turn a loss rail of how old some hen are , ” Webster says .
Molting Mama
Cooler declination temperatures and declining sunlight hours often trigger hens tomolt , which is when they shed their old feathers and grow Modern I . You ’ll know when exuviate happens ; your chickens will look like disheveled little feather dusters with unfinished patches and plumage in various stages of regrowth . Hens ca n’t molt and consist egg at the same time , Webster say , so egg product stops when those feathers wing .
“ After a hen has been producing eggs for several month , she becomes more and more likely to molt , ” he says . “ moulting and egg production are not reciprocally compatible , so when molting occurs , egg production stop . The repose from nut egg laying allow the hen to restore its plumage condition by throw away quondam feathering and arise new ones . At the same meter , the hen ’s reproductive piece of land is rejuvenate , allowing it to increase its rate of eggs production and produce high quality eggs when it returns to lay . ”
Molting is a natural occurrence , so it ’s fail to take place . When it does will depend whether you keep your madam under an stilted luminance during the winter .
“ Under rude day length , moult tends to coincide with the change in time of year so that hens molt in the drop after they give up egg production due to shorter days , ” Webster says . “ In these circumstance , it is normal for all the hens in a peck to go out of production and molt more or less in synchrony . However , if artificial lighting is provided , a hen may moult at any time of class and not in synchronization with other hens . If this happens , she should return to lie in several weeks . ”
Un-Zen Hens
Stress affects your hen ’ laying cycles , too . unelaborated situation that could spook your ladies include any go , handling , environmental change or predator terror , Clauer says . Prevent these common stressor if at all potential .
Henpecking In The Henhouse
Too many hens and not enough nesting spots can cause bollock - product problem , too , notes Clauer . Bossy hen may beak at eggs or chase others away from nest boxes , forcing them to lay elsewhere . Some may get a taste for egg and start out cracking eggs and eating them .
“ If eggs yield is decrease , you may need to turn over the hypothesis of predators consuming the eggs , egg - eating by the hens themselves or egg breakage , ” Lavergne says . “ The hen may also be obscure the bollock if they ’re able-bodied to lean costless . ”
Free-Rangers
With the riddle still perplexing , I considered these expert clue and realized Lavergne had the answer : My three free - place problem - shaper had sent me on my own Easter egg hunt ! The hens , it rick out , were laying their egg in their own homemade nesting spots beneath a newly build deck yards away from their coop .
The closed book was solved !
After a little convincing — and letting them out of their henhouse at noon rather than break of day — I sweet-talk them back to their right nest boxes . Because most hens do their laying in morning time , they had no choice but to use what was in their playpen .
omit eggs can be a whodunit , but it can be solved with a little sleuthing … and by thinking like a chicken .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2016 issue ofChickens .
