Leading 5 Causes Your Hens Cease Laying – Discussed by Gail Damerow
Leading 5 Causes Your Hens Cease Laying – Discussed by Gail Damerow
Blog Article
Every single yard chicken keeper has seasoned it: someday, your hens are laying reliably, and another, the nesting boxes are mysteriously vacant. Based on Gail Damerow, renowned poultry skilled and writer of Storey’s Information to Increasing Chickens, this egg-laying pause is usually not a thriller in any respect. You can find crystal clear, pure reasons hens stop laying, and comprehending them can help you support your flock and restore efficiency. Here i will discuss Damerow’s major 5 causes hens quit laying—and what you are able to do about them.
1. Molting: A All-natural Pause
As Damerow explains, molting is often a yearly event inside of a hen’s lifetime, generally happening in late summer months to early slide. Throughout this time, hens reduce and regrow feathers—a course of action that requires an amazing level of energy and protein. Egg generation usually stops all through this period, given that the hen's entire body focuses solely on feather regeneration.
What You Can Do: Assist your hens using a superior-protein feed or snacks like mealworms and scrambled eggs. Stay away from stressing the flock and Permit nature get its class. After the molt is finish, egg-laying should progressively 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 while in the coop that has a timer to simulate purely natural daylight. A low-wattage bulb turning on within the early morning can safely lengthen "daylight" and assistance winter laying. Prevent sudden lighting variations that might pressure your birds.
three. Poor Nutrition
Nutrition is foundational to egg output. Damerow warns that feeding chickens a diet missing in protein, calcium, or necessary natural vitamins may lead to less or no eggs. Treats and scratch grains, although entertaining, can dilute the balanced nutrition provided by professional layer feed.
What You are able to do: Make certain your flock has continual access to superior-high-quality layer feed, cleanse drinking water, and calcium supplements like crushed oyster shell. Restrict treats to no more than ten% of their daily food plan.
4. Tension and Environmental Things
Pressure is An important contributor to lowered egg production. In Fun88 Casino keeping with Damerow, stressors can incorporate predator threats, overcrowding, bullying, Intense temperatures, or simply relocating the coop. Hens are delicate to change and will react by halting egg creation.
What You Can Do: Develop a calm, Risk-free atmosphere for your personal birds. Sustain dependable routines, supply enough space, and deal with resources of stress for example loud noises or intense flockmates.
5. Age and Health problems
Damerow reminds us that laying just isn't a lifelong endeavor. Most hens start laying all around five–six months of age, peak at about one–two a long time, and afterwards gradually slow down. Disease, parasites, and reproductive difficulties can also interfere with laying.
What You Can Do: Keep watch over your hens’ Total health and fitness. Perform normal parasite checks, sustain a clear coop, and talk to a vet if you notice signs of illness. Older hens may still be valuable members of the flock even when their laying days are behind them.
Final Thoughts
As Gail Damerow often suggests, “Chickens don’t just quit laying for no motive.” Should your hens have a split, it’s their strategy for signaling that a thing inside their setting or biology has shifted. With some observation, excellent care, plus some tolerance, you may help information your flock back to healthy egg output—or just value the natural rhythms in their lives.