Eggs slowing down is normal?

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi there, I live in Ireland & it's suposed to be cold now. My chickens (9 of them ) are laying better now than they did in the summer. Most days i get 6 eggs , & at least once a week i get 8. Back in May i had 2 eggs hatch & they both turned out to be roosters. We havn't had the heart to give them the chop & i'm wondering if having the boys in with the girls makes them more productive.

You may eventually need to lose one of the roosters since 2 may overbreed the 9 hens.

I read some research that showed pullets start laying sooner if there were roosters present. They didn't have to be housed together, they only needed to be able to see them.

 

[lulubell15]

You may eventually need to lose one of the roosters since 2 may overbreed the 9 hens.

I read some research that showed pullets start laying sooner if there were roosters present. They didn't have to be housed together, they only needed to be able to see them.

We were only 100% sure they were roosters a litle while ago , & i was getting round to the idea that one of them was going to be xmas dinner, but we gave them a stay of execution. This is going to be the hardest part of looking after chucks, toughening up & not being so sentimental. One of them is a fine bird & so big. (No idea what breed) pic on my page. The other looks the same only smaller.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sounds like you know which one you're keeping.

It is the hardest part but necessary.

 

[annabobbob717]

It is normal, but mine seem to lay just as much of not more! It may be your hens are stressed by the climate change

 

[Jenneh85]

My 6 hens are back to normal if thats even worth saying towards chickens, My EE Roo seemed to have started making smaller eggs for some strange reason, I think its cute but my husband laughs at it.


I really hope that these new chickens I have arent all roosters, I have found a home for ONE of them.

One of the what I think is a female kinda has a round ridge but doesnt have bumps and hasnt started turning pink so its hard to tell if its a female or male.

The smaller one in the other room MIGHT be a male, I see a small 3 ridged comb between the fluff.

I am never buying chicks from this pet store again, after this they made me GOOD off buying more chickens.

I just wanted eggs no crowers.

 

[RoosterDon]

We have had three different broody hens. Each time when the hen would take her break there seemed to be a rush to lay eggs in her nest so she would hatch their eggs too. So we never saw a decrease of eggs when there was a broody hen.

Since the days here in Austin have gotten shorter I was averaging 3-5 eggs a day. I then read in a magazine where they like to have multiple water stations when they have a large area to roam, which we have. I replace the two old watering stations and added two more for a total of 4, and for the heck of it I replaced the feed station with a new one. Whether it was coincidence or not egg production picked up IMMEDIATELY. Also I had left a feed bucket in their nesting area and they took to it for some reason. So I put hay in it and put two more feed buckets up there with hay (my ladies have no shortage of nesting boxes btw). I just came in from the coop and collected 8 eggs from the feed bucket and two more from the nesting boxes for a total of 10 today, with some daylight left. Since adding the new stations I was getting 6-8 eggs a day before today.

So maybe this tells me that mixing things up might make a difference, not sure. The other thing I started doing was letting them out a little earlier in the day and maybe that made a difference.

I have 18 layers, one more hen teaching her 3 newbies and 2 roos.

Also I had a mean roo that i got rid of a month ago so maybe it took some time for the ladies to get going again. He was pretty rough on the ladies.

I guess it definitely goes to show that a happy hen is a happy home!!!!! in more ways then one.

 

[Jenneh85]

We have had three different broody hens. Each time when the hen would take her break there seemed to be a rush to lay eggs in her nest so she would hatch their eggs too. So we never saw a decrease of eggs when there was a broody hen.

Since the days here in Austin have gotten shorter I was averaging 3-5 eggs a day. I then read in a magazine where they like to have multiple water stations when they have a large area to roam, which we have. I replace the two old watering stations and added two more for a total of 4, and for the heck of it I replaced the feed station with a new one. Whether it was coincidence or not egg production picked up IMMEDIATELY. Also I had left a feed bucket in their nesting area and they took to it for some reason. So I put hay in it and put two more feed buckets up there with hay (my ladies have no shortage of nesting boxes btw). I just came in from the coop and collected 8 eggs from the feed bucket and two more from the nesting boxes for a total of 10 today, with some daylight left. Since adding the new stations I was getting 6-8 eggs a day before today.

So maybe this tells me that mixing things up might make a difference, not sure. The other thing I started doing was letting them out a little earlier in the day and maybe that made a difference.

I have 18 layers, one more hen teaching her 3 newbies and 2 roos.

Also I had a mean roo that i got rid of a month ago so maybe it took some time for the ladies to get going again. He was pretty rough on the ladies.

I guess it definitely goes to show that a happy hen is a happy home!!!!! in more ways then one.

SO is it better to have a rooster?

Or is it better not to.

I dont want to breed chickens, I dont want to make broody hens and I sure in the blazes dont want a crower as my neighbor down the road has over 6 roosters free-ranging and crow willy nilly.

How can I tell if this one "bird" is a rooster. its a EE and the comb doesnt look like the definite pullet.

 

[RoosterDon]

Well if you have a rooster he WILL hump the ladies and you will have fertilized eggs. This does not mean that you have to let the hens sit on them and hatch them. I just finally gave in to my new hen and let her hatch a few since she was so persistent.

I think having a rooster is important for protecting your ladies. But this depends on where you are, what predators you might have, etc.....But I have never NOT had a rooster, so I don't know the other side of this equation. But you CAN'T predict the crowing. I now have two, and they start crowing at 3 or 4 am. My last mean rooster that I got rid of would crow all night.

If you have a rooster, you WILL have crowing. So maybe that helps answer your question. If you don't have predator problems then you don't need a rooster.

I had a raccoon (I think) get in one night when I left their little door open, and the coon climbed the ramp up to the second floor where the chickens roost. I have a third rooster who was young, and that rooster must have fought the coon, and he lost, died and was eaten, but he went out being the man and taking one for the team. It sure showed me how this all works.

But better or not better? Doesn't really matter. It is more about protecting the ladies is all.

 

[cstronks]

SO is it better to have a rooster?

Or is it better not to.

I dont want to breed chickens, I dont want to make broody hens and I sure in the blazes dont want a crower as my neighbor down the road has over 6 roosters free-ranging and crow willy nilly.

How can I tell if this one "bird" is a rooster. its a EE and the comb doesnt look like the definite pullet.

Roosters will have thicker legs, more upright builds, and develop combs many weeks earlier than their pullet counterparts. I've had birds that I thought were roos early on, but when they began laying eggs and really maturing (at about 16 weeks), I realized I had all hens.

There are benefits to a rooster, but judging by this thread, none of them apply to you. Roosters provide protection to a flock (and even order to a degree). You won't get a nasty hen with a rooster because the rooster is clearly the alpha of the flock. Roosters also allow for breeding, which you explicitly stated that you do not want.

As for the downsides of roosters, they can be very aggressive (to both owner and hen), they eat a ton (and produce nothing), and they are loud. Roosters are generally not allowed in most towns, as I know for a fact that my neighborhood does not allow them, generally because of noise problems. If your hens are in an enclosed/protected area, then a rooster's protective services are meaningless to you. They can be a hassle if you are not looking to breed. Roosters in no way, shape or form contribute to better egg production.

As stated earlier, light has the largest influence on a hens laying habits, so if you want more production through the winter then I would look into artificial lighting. Glad to hear your production returned to a higher level. Chickens are finicky. They react to minor changes pretty often. Maybe the faux eggs were a noticeable change for them.

Chickens are a constant learning experience. You must take everything you hear with a slight grain of salt. I'm convinced that no two birds are the same, let alone any two flocks. I love learning about these birds, and one thing that I've learned (as you mentioned before), is not to overreact or overthink situations. Generally there is always a way to figure the birds out, and if not, then you chalk it up to the unpredictability of the chickens!

 

[Jenneh85]

cstronks & RoosterDon Thank you so much for both your input.

I personally thought that having a rooster would do something better for my hens, but since they are in a inclosed enclosure it wouldnt be best for them, and I am not trying to breed chickens yet either.

I think the only real question is what do I do with the ones I think that are roosters?

I advertised one on CL and I havent gotten ANYTHING.

I feel as though I am stuck with them.

Should I just separate them from the hens and fatten them up for dinners???