Ok here is a silly question for you all. I have laying hens and the eggs are usually brown but the productions seems down and the eggs are lighter in colour...Iam just new to having the ladies around and not to sure about this new development any ideas ?
Make sure they are getting enough food and water. They should be on a layer pellet and need to be give at the very least chicken scratch daily. If you can spare veg scrap etc they will love it! That being said many things can lower egg production. If it's real hot for one. They go through stages. If they are molting or broody that will also drop production.
As far as color it will fluctuate some. Mine range from a medium brown to an almost white or pinkish color. I have buff Orpingtons.
A couple of things come to mind Lisa. How old are your hens? Most laying hens will start to drop off production around 18 mos to 2 yrs of age. Try and keep their "day length" to around 14 hours per day. Do they get greens daily? I find it very worth it to buy the best quality layer pellets you can afford, it really does make a difference in the health of your birds. I now use only certified organic and there is no comparison to the first laying hens I raised on regular feed. Chicken scratch is sort of a treat for them, but I do give mine a little every day and mix it with oyster shell for calcium. They get a little more scratch in the winter as it has a higher corn ratio and I believe it helps to keep them warmer. Hope this helps! Di
I might also interject that with weather changes or a very bad storm chicken will take a few days to catch their breath and return to normal eggs. I have seen this with our horrible lightening storms - it scared everyone silly and the hens are no different. I had a Black Star who was caught out in the storm and her eggs for two days very lite in color and now they are back to a deep brown.
Give a balanced diet and tons of hugs - you will be back to normal in no time.
Grace Gerber Larkspur Funny Farm and Fiber Art Studio
Thanks for the info. They are getting laying pellets and scape veggies but they are 2 years old. Maybe they are molting not to sure what that looks like as never had them before.... I will look into finding scratch at my local feed store.
Their age is likely the problem. Many breeds start to slow down their laying considerably after two years. When they molt you will see feathers all over the chicken yard. My birds never looked bad when molting but it could be my breed! Sound like its time to get some baby chicks and start replacing your older hens!
chicken question ???
Posted - Aug 05 2009 : 4:10:47 PM
