There is a fair sized flock of chickens in my hen house. They are there to eat pests and lay eggs. This year they are frustrating chickens.
Eggs almost ceased to appear last summer. From what I’ve read and heard, this was a common problem for many. There are probably lots of reasons.
Too Many Roosters
Someone dumped off some roosters down the road last summer. They moved into my flock and proceeded to beat up both my two resident roosters and my hens.
All but one left. The damage was already done. My hens were traumatized which is not good for egg production.
Black Snakes
There are several big, and I do mean big, black snakes that live under my barn floor all summer. Eggs are a favorite delicacy.
However, the snakes also eat some of the thousands of mice, any rats that attempt to move in and discourage the copperheads. So I put up with losing a few eggs.
The problem last summer was a younger black snake, a mere five footer (The big ones are seven feet and six feet.). This one was determined to get to those eggs, even sliding under the hens in the nests to wait for the egg to arrive.
The hens were not happy. They moved out to the hay trough, the tall grass, anyplace but the nests.
Heat
Like much of the country, the Ozarks had a heat wave go by. The chickens hid in the barn, under the trees, next to the barn, anyplace there was shade. They still panted as chickens can’t sweat. One older hen went hoarse.
Egg production ceased.
Older Hens
My flock is mixed ages. I tend to add six to eight pullets each year. The others stay until they die of old age.
Older hens lay larger eggs, but fewer of them. They tend to stop laying after molting in the fall and not start again until the end of January.
Light Problems
For years I’ve used lights to lengthen the days for my hens to encourage them to lay longer in the fall. The new LED lights don’t seem to have the right colors of light, so this doesn’t seem to work very well any more.
All of this adds up to frustrating chickens and a shortage of eggs in my kitchen.