hens slowing production

idiganthro

idiganthro

Member
I was raised on a farm, but only have an acre now. My chickens are pets mostly, and I probably wouldn't take an axe to one- at least not one of my favorite buddies! I don't see a problem with someone butchering their chickens, though. I'm certainly not a vegetarian, I just go to the grocer rather than the back yard for my chicken! Maybe that's a bit of food hypocracy, but I love my girls!
 
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shilo

New Member
I am glad you brought this subject up. I have been thinking all week that I had a snake or some other problem because I went from six eggs a day to two overnight. It started a couple days ago. We had changed their food to the crumbles from Southern States last week out of convenience, so I made a trip back to the Amish henyard yesterday and got the laying mash I had been feeding. I hadn't thought about the shortened sunlight. Thanks! My hens are just about two years old now. Are you all saying I should trade a few out for some young ones?
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
hmm trade them out? Where would they go?

I only have 3 eggs today which is WAY too few for 20 or so hens, but I do have about 6 polish girls who do NOT lay in the Winter and a few other "special" hens who are not known for daily laying .... last Winter I ended up with almost NO eggs daily .... but then again I really want them to have a natural cycle so why am I complaining? :eyebrow:

shilo said:
I am glad you brought this subject up. I have been thinking all week that I had a snake or some other problem because I went from six eggs a day to two overnight. It started a couple days ago. We had changed their food to the crumbles from Southern States last week out of convenience, so I made a trip back to the Amish henyard yesterday and got the laying mash I had been feeding. I hadn't thought about the shortened sunlight. Thanks! My hens are just about two years old now. Are you all saying I should trade a few out for some young ones?
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onelove6366

New Member
We had Star Burgers and Star Steaks. They were delicious. I was young - around 10 but didn't get upset - we knew the entire time we were raising Star that he was intended for the dinner table. I have never actually witnessed the event or processing or participated be it chicken, pig, or cow so it was probably still something that was out of my grasp. Now that my kids are grown and gone - yucky stuff gives me the willies anymore so unless it was the End of Times and we all had to survive by our wits, I don't think I'll be reverting to the raising my own food other then what grows out of the ground! I don't eat beef or pork anymore so that certainly would make things a lot easier.

We had attack chickens when I was a kid too. That was a blast!

ArkRescue said:
Those of us that grew up in a non-farm environment don't understand raising animals to eat. The animals we ate didn't have names and we never fed them.

I recall a guy telling me about raising beef. One day at dinner he said "Brownie sure does taste good" and the kids cried and ran outside to see if Brownie was gone. Brownie was indeed gone. He said then he realized it was best to not name the ones intended for dinner lol.
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dems4me

Guest
GWguy said:
It's because of the shorter day length. If they have a coop, put a light in there on a timer to simulate summer day length, on at 5AM and off at 8PM or something. That's what I did when I had hens many moons ago.
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:yeahthat:
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
yeah I think if I actually witnessed the slaughter process I'd want to be a vegetarian. I have trouble eating eggs sometimes .....

I was chased as a child by a hen with chicks and she pecked me in the leg as I ran and screamed. I obviously wasn't scarred for life.

I think I'm going to try a light and a timer to see if I can increase production just a tad. I only had 2 eggs yesterday, and that's just crazy out of 20 hens! So if I increase their light by 2 hours a day, I am hoping that I can get a few more eggs a day without pushing them fully into regular production.

onelove6366 said:
We had Star Burgers and Star Steaks. They were delicious. I was young - around 10 but didn't get upset - we knew the entire time we were raising Star that he was intended for the dinner table. I have never actually witnessed the event or processing or participated be it chicken, pig, or cow so it was probably still something that was out of my grasp. Now that my kids are grown and gone - yucky stuff gives me the willies anymore so unless it was the End of Times and we all had to survive by our wits, I don't think I'll be reverting to the raising my own food other then what grows out of the ground! I don't eat beef or pork anymore so that certainly would make things a lot easier.

We had attack chickens when I was a kid too. That was a blast!
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ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
Well yeah sort of, because since I have a rooster, some of my eggs are fertilized. Only some ... because there are some hens that will not allow him to mount them LOL I also worry about there being a blood spot in eggs. EWWWW.

Cowgirl said:
Why? Because you know you're eating an embryo that desperately wants to live and grow and become a cute, fuzzy little baby chick?
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Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
ArkRescue said:
Well yeah sort of, because since I have a rooster, some of my eggs are fertilized. Only some ... because there are some hens that will not allow him to mount them LOL I also worry about there being a blood spot in eggs. EWWWW.
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I was only teasing. :lol:
 
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