Each individual backyard rooster keeper has expert it: one day, your hens are laying reliably, and the next, the nesting boxes are mysteriously empty. In accordance with Gail Damerow, renowned poultry skilled and writer of Storey’s Information to Increasing Chickens, this egg-laying pause is frequently not a thriller in any respect. You can find crystal clear, pure good reasons hens end laying, and comprehending them will let you aid your flock and restore efficiency. Here's Damerow’s prime five reasons hens prevent laying—and what you are able to do about them.
1. Molting: A Purely natural Pause
As Damerow points out, molting is actually a annually celebration within a hen’s lifestyle, typically transpiring in late summer time to early tumble. Through this time, hens drop and regrow feathers—a process that needs a tremendous number of Vitality and protein. Egg output typically stops during this era, as the hen's human body focuses entirely on feather regeneration.
What You Can Do: Aid your hens by using a high-protein feed or snacks like mealworms and scrambled eggs. Stay away from stressing the flock and Enable nature just take its class. After the molt is finish, egg-laying should slowly resume.
two. Shortened Daylight Several hours
Light exposure plays an important job in stimulating a hen’s reproductive method. Damerow factors out that hens will need fourteen–sixteen hours of daylight for constant laying. As daylight decreases in the fall and Winter season months, so does egg generation.
What You are able to do: Consider adding a light source inside the coop that has a timer to simulate purely natural daylight. A low-wattage bulb turning on within the early morning can safely extend "daylight" and assistance winter laying. Stay away from sudden lighting modifications Which may tension your birds.
3. Bad Nourishment
Nourishment is foundational to egg output. Damerow warns that feeding chickens a diet lacking in protein, calcium, or crucial vitamins can result in much less or no eggs. Treats and scratch grains, though pleasurable, can dilute the balanced nutrition furnished by professional layer feed.
What You Can Do: Make certain your flock has continuous access to superior-excellent layer feed, clear water, and calcium nutritional supplements like crushed oyster shell. Restrict treats to no more than ten% of their day by day eating plan.
4. Worry and Environmental Variables
Tension is An important contributor to lowered egg manufacturing. In keeping with Damerow, stressors can include things like predator threats, overcrowding, bullying, Severe temperatures, or even relocating the coop. Hens are delicate to alter and will react by halting egg generation.
What You Can Do: Develop a quiet, Risk-free atmosphere on your birds. Maintain regular routines, provide ample Place, and address sources of pressure such as loud noises or aggressive flockmates.
5. Age and Health concerns
Damerow reminds us that laying isn't a lifelong endeavor. Most hens get started laying all-around 5–6 months of age, peak at about 1–2 yrs, and then progressively decelerate. Health issues, parasites, and reproductive issues also can interfere with laying.
What You Can Do: Control your hens’ In general health. Conduct typical parasite checks, keep a cleanse coop, and consult with a vet if you discover signs of sickness. Older hens may still be valuable members from the flock even when their laying days are behind them.
Final Views
As Gail Damerow often suggests, “Chickens don’t just prevent laying for no rationale.” In the event Fun88 Casino your hens have a split, it’s their method of signaling that one thing in their atmosphere or biology has shifted. With a bit of observation, good treatment, and several persistence, you might help guide your flock again to healthier egg generation—or simply appreciate the purely natural rhythms in their lives.