The Poultry Keeper

foghornleghorn1969 · Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 4

Can anyone help? I'm new to this game so you may be able to help!
I have 12 hybrids which are about 14 months old, i was recently getting approx 10 eggs a day but for the last 3 weeks i have been only getting about 5, i have a broody maran and i was wondering if this would stop the other hens laying as the moran is always in one of the nesting boxes. Today i have seperated her from the others to see if this makes any effect to the egg production. Am i doing the right thing?
Thanks.

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1356 Location: Leicestershire

They may be laying in an illegal nest somewhere hidden! is that possible? The Maran sitting in the nest box wouldn't as such put them off, the egg is already there and has to be laid Shocked

It's the wrong time of the year to be going off lay - unless they're coming to the end of their first season, but 14 months seems a bit young for that. I know you said they were 14 months old but do you mean that you have had them for 14 months? and they were pol when you got them? or were they pol when you got them and you've had them for 9 months?

Itsybitsy

foghornleghorn1969 · Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks for the reply, i have checked everywhere and there is not a hidden nest anywhere to be found. I bought the hens a year ago and they were then point of lay, so i suppose that would make them about 17 months old, how long do they lay eggs for? i thought it was regular for the first two years or am i wrong. The eggs we do get are very large, do the eggs get bigger the older the hens get?

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1032 Location: Cornwall

They're probably going off lay, they dont lay nonstop all the time.

All this means is they're starting to moult, and sometimes this isn't very noticable in pure breeds, the moult is much more pronounced in birds bred for battery or free range egg production, and resting their bodies ready for the next laying period.

Once they have rested and finished moulting then they will come into lay again, but they won't lay as many eggs as they did in their first year, but the eggs will be bigger. Each consequtive year the egg production will be less.