9 Reasons Your Chickens Aren't Laying Eggs | And How To FIX It!

why do chickens either slow down or stop  producing eggs entirely there's a lot of   different answers to that question so today  we're going to talk about nine reasons your   chickens aren't laying eggs it's important to  find out why your chickens aren't laying eggs   that way we can better understand how to get  them laying eggs again we're going to start   out with some straightforward and relatively easy  reasons to fix but then I saved number nine for   last because it's the most common reasons that  your chickens aren't laying eggs and there's a   whole lot to be said about it let's go ahead and  jump into reason number one and that is stress   stress can be a huge trigger for your chickens  to stop laying eggs stress can come in a whole   lot of different forms one of those would be  let's say a predator attack let's say you had   a raccoon or a fox or something get into your  Coop or even try to get into your Coop and it   really stress your chickens out that can stop  your chickens laying for months at a time other   things could be even just a small change in the  coop if you get in your Coop and really clean it   out really well that could stress your chickens  out enough to make them stop laying eggs or maybe   you moved or maybe you have a lot of City sounds  in your neighborhood and it's new to them maybe a   change in temperature whether that be hot or cold  extreme in either direction will make them stop   laying and another big one would be new chickens  in the Flocka new chickens in the flock can really   stress the birds out any of these things could  stress your birds out enough to make them stop   laying for however long they're stressed out for  so if your chickens aren't laying eggs right now   think about to when they stop laying eggs was  there a triggering moment or any kind of event   that happened that might have stressed them out  to where they don't want to be laying eggs right   now a lot of times these aren't things that you  can really fix I mean you can make their home as   peaceful and stress-free as possible but I mean  there's not really a whole lot you can do other   than just give them some space and let them chill  out and calm down a little bit and relax let them   work through it overall with some stress triggers  there's not a lot you can do but let's say you had   a predator attack if you had a predator attack  go secure your Coop a little better especially   if the Predator actually got into your coot or  into your run or killed any of your birds make   sure you're securing that Coop really really well  so it doesn't happen again I know for us we have   a lot of sounds we have dogs that live at our  house we have dogs that live next door but the   biggest one we have is we live right next to an  Air Force Base so we have f-35s that are flying   by constantly and there's a lot of times that I  have to stop filming because you can't even hear   me through the microphone because it's so loud  but that's stuff that they get used to over time   it's not something that you can just snap your  fingers and hope everything's okay the number two   reason is going to be their age your hands best  year of laying is going to be their first year were the Jets I was just talking about your  hands are getting older you're going to see   a decrease in production it might only be 10 20  a year there's a tar I'll be putting it right   here there you might only be 10 or 20 a year but  over time that's going to add up and if your flock   is all the same age you're really going to see  a decrease in your egg production by the time   they are five six seven eight years old so that's  definitely something to keep in mind if you see   a slowing in production it might be their age one  thing you can always do if you have the space not   everybody has a space but if you do have the space  get one or two chicks every single year to kind of   add to your flock and that's going to keep that  younger population of chickens in your flock to   keep giving you eggs that's what we do here every  year we get a couple checks especially mainly for   the kids but we get a couple chicks and that way  we keep having our eggs coming no matter how old   the rest of our hens are I will say that we keep  our hands for the entirety of their life we don't   Harvest them for meat they are our pets they are  family at this point and we would never be able   to use them for meat but I will say if you are  using your birds as a food source if that's the   source of food that you need then maybe think  about growing some meat birds so that way you   can have your hens that are laying and then you  can Harvest them after a couple years and then   replace the flock with some new birds and that  will also keep the egg production High that's   not for everybody but it is for a lot of people  a lot of people they use their chickens as a huge   source of food for us we don't we don't need the  chicken we just need the eggs number three reason   is gonna be if a chicken is sick or injured it is  not going to be producing eggs and rightfully so   if you are sick or injured are you going to want  to be doing anything that's strenuous on your body   no you're going to want to lay in bed and relax  and just kind of make yourself better same thing   is going to be with chickens if the chicken is  sick injured in any way whatsoever they are most   likely not going to be laying eggs so if you do  see a decrease in your egg production this it's   definitely a good time to go through your flock  and kind of give them all once over and make sure   that they're all healthy Birds there's a lot of  different things you can be looking for to make   sure that they're okay and one of those is going  to be let's say feather loss extreme feather loss   and I'm saying talking outside of a malt because  molting is different but if you have feather   loss outside of like the late summer early fall  range then it's a pretty good possibility that   your bird is sick and it's not just molting if  you have tired or just generally inactive Birds   maybe you want to check those birds out make  sure they're healthy chickens are supposed to   be active they're supposed to be up and eating  and drinking and you know doing all the chicken   things and another thing you can check is their  eyes sometimes if a bird is sick their eyes will   get goopy and gross or they'll get really dull  and those are also things you can be looking   for I mean ruffled feathers droopy Wings birds  laying down I want to specify here because a   lot of times my birds will lay down when they're  giving themselves a dust bath so they'll kind of   like lay down and just flop around in the dust  but then as soon as they're done actually like   bathing themselves they just kind of lay there  in the dust because it's nice and warm and it's   comfortable for them so make sure you separate  that but if a bird is like inside the coop laying   down and I'm not talking like sitting I'm talking  actually like laying down on the side that stuff   you want to be looking for another one is going to  be like let's say a bird is limping if there's a   lot of times you know bumblefoot and stuff like  that that's all really easy things to get so   let's say a bird you know jump off its Roost and  hurt its foot that's also going to be something   that's going to make it stop laying so those  are all going to be red flags to tell you that   there might be something going on in your flock  the number four reason is actually going to be   hidden eggs so sometimes you might think that your  birds aren't laying but realistically they're just   hiding their eggs from you and this is something  I didn't really know a whole lot about until it   was this year we got a couple we got a whole  bunch of chicks this year and as they started   to delay they wouldn't lay in the nesting boxes  they would lay everywhere else so it was almost   like an Easter egg hunt every time we'd come out  here with the kids they'd have to get in there and   check behind the feeder and the water and they'd  have to look under the roofs and then go out into   the run and kind of dig around and they would put  their eggs everywhere except for the nesting box   and a lot of times if they find a specific place  they like they will continue to lay there so let's   say they find a little corner In the side of the  yard or the side of the run if that's the spot   they like then that's where they're going to keep  laying so it might be that your birds are laying   they're just not laying where you want them to lay  so kind of do a good inspection make sure that you   check everything and that there's no eggs sitting  around in your Coop Roost or yard anywhere if you   do find some out in the yard or somewhere they're  not supposed to be and you're like oh wow maybe I   am getting eggs just not in the right spot there  are things you can do to kind of help your bird   start laying in the nesting boxes the first one  is going to be make sure you're cleaning out your   nesting boxes like once a week you want to make  sure you're filling it with either wood shavings   or straw something nice and fluffy put it in the  nesting box make sure it's clean and that's going   to help those birds want to get into the nesting  box another thing you can do is maybe take some   of those eggs that you're finding and put them in  the nesting boxes if they are seeing eggs in the   nesting boxes especially if they're the younger  chickens there's a pretty good chance that they   will recognize where those are and start laying  in there instead chickens are habitual so once   they start laying eggs in a specific spot they're  going to want to keep laying there and it can be   a hard habit to break a lot of times chickens  are going to be laying in the early mornings so   another thing you can do is you can actually just  keep your Coop door closed in the morning so they   can't be getting out let them lay inside the coop  and then open that door and let them come out it's   easier said than done obviously it's kind of a  lot of work especially if you don't have like an   automatic door we have an automatic door on ours  and we love it I'll leave a link for that down in   the description but if you don't have an automatic  door you can still just go out there and open the   door a little bit later than you normally do in  the mornings keep the birds inside the coop that   way it limits their area that they can be laying  you also need to make sure you have enough nesting   boxes if you have too many chickens and not enough  nesting boxes then I mean pecking order that's a   real thing they're not going to be all sharing  one nesting box you want to at least have one   nesting box for every four Birds if you have less  than that go get some more nesting boxes that may   help those birds start laying the nesting box also  if you've recently changed the style or the type   of box that you have or even taking taking out  one box and replaces it with a clean box anything   like that if you change their nesting box that  can also trigger them to stop laying that's not   their normal you know Nest that's something  completely new so it takes them a while to   get used to that being their nest number five  reason your chickens might not be laying eggs is   you might have a Broody hen maybe instead of just  not getting eggs at all maybe you're just getting   less eggs for us this is what was happening with  us and when we would go out to check for eggs we   would go in there and there was always one bird  that we had just laying on the eggs and she would   never get off so there would be 10 eggs underneath  this chicken and we would go in to get these eggs   out she would yell at us she would Peck at us she  did not want to get off these eggs we literally   have to like reach under her and she would start  pecking at her hands and stuff and we'd have to   hurry up and sneak all those eggs out because  she wanted those eggs to hatch that is the only   thing she was focused on when you have a Broody  hen they will not be laying because they already   have the eggs that they want to incubate they  already have the eggs they want to sit on they   don't want to lay anymore all they are focused  on is hatching out some chicks even if those eggs   aren't fertilized that's still all they want to  do they just want to sit on those eggs until they   hatch this can be a tougher one to stop that  bird from being so Broody but one thing you   can do is you can make sure you're clearing out  your eggs often go out there every single day   make sure you pull all the eggs out because if  there's no eggs for her to lay on then she'll be   less inclined to have that in her head that she  needs to be sitting on those eggs if you catch   her early on like the first day or two as soon  as she starts feeling Broody what you can do is   you can start pulling her out of that Nest this is  kind of a tough one because if you catch it really   early on it's something you can break her up just  pull out of the nest you know put her out in the   run just take her away from that Nest that she's  trying to sit in but this doesn't work after the   first few days because after the first few days  it is just dead set in her head that she wants to   hatch those eggs and that's not something that  just removing her is going to change one thing   you can do is you can physically block her from  getting into the nest over time that's going to   break her of that broodiness but this this is kind  of hard because if you have a chicken coop full of   chickens and you can't just block one chicken  from The Nest so sometimes you might have to   remove that bird and put them in a temporary Coop  if that's available to you if if at all possible   just removing her from the coop in general give  it a couple days give it a week and then put her   back in and hopefully that broodiness is broken or  hear me out if she isn't stopping the other birds   from laying let's say you have four nesting boxes  and she's taking over one if she isn't stopping   the other birds from Lane just let her be Broody  I mean my wife Prides herself on being a good mom   rightfully so she's the best mom in the world  she Prides herself on that so when we had our   Broody hen she was so lit up that was her favorite  chicken she just wanted to go out and sit in the   sit in the chicken coop with the chicken she was  loving on it because she was like oh my gosh she   just wants to be a good Mom that's all she wants  just let him let him be Broody it doesn't last   forever I mean realistically the incubation time  is what 21 days and so realistically after 21 days   the hen should naturally move on and stop being so  Broody and start laying again you're gonna be out   21 days of one chicken worth of eggs let her be  Broody let her just be a good mom for a minute and   just do her thing the number six reason is going  to be food and proper nutrition if a bird doesn't   have everything they need in their diet they  literally cannot form the egg so food is going   to be extremely important if you aren't providing  it to them that will stop them from laying eggs   altogether a good quality feed for laying hen is  going to have anywhere between 16 and 20 protein   it's going to be enhanced with Omega-3s maybe  some added prebiotics and probiotics along with   some calcium and magnesium most layer pellets or  crumbles are going to have all of these things   already for you we also give our birds as a treat  some black soldier fly larvae from grubterra and   these are packed full of protein and calcium  and all sorts of good stuff especially right   now during the winter months we give them a lot of  that just for the extra protein and just kind of   giving them some extra stuff to digest but it also  goes a long way in giving them the stuff they need   to form the eggs one of the most important things  they need to be forming these eggs is going to be   calcium think about it the eggshell is just  pure calcium more or less so what a lot of   people do is they supplement with crushed oyster  shells this is going to give you some really nice   strong eggshells I'll leave a link down in the  description below for some good crushed oyster   shells this is something that you just give as a  supplement with their normal food it's kind of a   treat just kind of sprinkle it around as they eat  these oyster shells they can they can digest that   calcium and put it into their eggshells so if  you're missing any one of these things in their   diet and they are not laying for you right now  that's a good place to start the number seven   reason your chickens aren't laying eggs is because  of water even if your Birds Go just a couple hours   without water that can trigger them to stop laying  eggs because they go into survival mode they need   that water to be creating eggs so make sure they  have it this can be a bigger issue in the winter   time because in the winter time you got your  water freezing even with some of those Waters   they're going to be freezing your chickens can't  be drinking out of them so it's kind of harder to   give them that fresh water one thing we do is we  just have this nice shallow dish that we put the   water in in the winter time and yeah it's kind of  frustrating because I got to go out there once or   twice a day to make sure that I am dumping the  ice out and refilling it with water so whatever   your plan is just make sure that they have good  fresh water constantly during especially during   the winter but throughout all the months in  general there's a lot of different chicken   Waters that people use depending on the season  there's different kinds for the winter versus   the summer I'm gonna put a bunch of those down  in the description below as well as a video that   we did on our favorite chicken water that we use  during the summertime but if you want your eggs   they need the water the number eight reason your  chickens aren't laying their eggs is molting and   if you've never had chickens or you're new to  chickens or even if you just maybe don't pay   attention molting is something that's going to  happen every year it normally happens in the late   summer to the early fall and what they're doing is  they're shedding off their their feathers they're   going to be dropping a lot of feathers and the  first time I saw this I literally walked outside   and I thought my birds were dead we get raccoons  here and I thought a raccoon got to our chickens   because there was feathers everywhere the neighbor  complained about it we had so many feathers just   all over the place it looked like a massacre but  then I get into the coop and I've just got a bunch   of half-naked birds in there because they all drop  their feathers when they go through the molting   stage they're not going to be laying any eggs at  all because all of their energy is going to be   focused on regrowing those feathers but they shut  them all off they regrow them and it's kind of an   excruciating process for them it takes a lot of  energy so they can't be putting energy into laying   eggs and you'll you'll know when it happens too  because you'll go from getting you know however   many eggs you normally get a day let's say you get  10 eggs a day you'll go collect your eggs one day   the next day you're going to come outside and you  will have zero it is just flip of a switch those   birds just stop laying when they when they start  molting there's nothing you can do about it it's   completely natural let them do their molting they  will be laying again I promise real quick before   we get into reason number nine if you've been  getting value from this video go down and hit   the like button it sends our videos out to more  people I really appreciate it thank you right   after molting is when we hit the reason number  nine which is going to be daylight the most common   reason that your chicken won't be laying eggs is  the amount of daylight that you have chicken seed   roughly 14 15 hours of daylight to be laying eggs  and normally at the end of the summer that you   know you're getting into the fall your day start  to to shorten and winter is coming the birds don't   see winter coming as the temperature dropping they  see winter coming as the change in the daylight so   as soon as those days start getting shorter those  birds are just going to taper off and stop laying   or if they do lay it's going to be just an egg  here or there you're not going to get a whole   lot of eggs at all this is a completely natural  thing it happens every single winter I know that   some people say that if you get like a really  heavy laying breed that they'll lay throughout   the winter but in our experience we'll get a few  eggs throughout the winter but hardly any at all   in the wild if a chicken was to lay an egg this  time of year that egg is going to hatch that chick   isn't going to live it's gonna be way too cold for  it to live well the chickens instinctively know   this they are conserving their energy for themself  they're not going to worry about procreating and   making more eggs they're worried about keeping  themselves alive throughout the winter all the   food they're eating all the water they're drinking  everything is just to keep them alive throughout   winter there are ways to get them to lay during  the winter and a lot of it is just generally good   winter care of your chickens we did a video  on that I'll put it down in the description   generally taking good care of your chickens during  the winter it will help give you a few eggs here   and there but it's not going to be anything like  what you got in the summer there is one way that   we'll get your chickens to not necessarily lay  at the level they did during the summer but it   will get them delayed throughout the winter and  that is adding supplemental lighting so if you   put a light on a timer you have it turned on you  know a few hours before the sun comes up to equal   that 14 to 15 hours of daylight they need in a  day that can trigger them to start laying eggs   again so a lot of people just put the light up in  their Coop put it on a timer and they do that all   winter long but before you go get your light in  your timer just listen to me real quick the birds   are not laying for a reason they are resting  for the winter and if you force your birds to   lay during the winter by adding some supplement  to lighting there are some issues that can rise   with that all I'm going to say is if you are truly  thinking about putting some some lighting in your   Coop to get those eggs throughout the winter do a  quick Google search do some research into it and   see if it's right for you because for us it's  not it's not right for us we don't need those   eggs as a food supply throughout the winter  a lot of people that have chickens they are   in a different different situation than we are  so I will never shame anybody for for doing the   whole light thing it's just not really for us  so if you are thinking about doing it just do a   quick Google search and do some reading and find  out if it's right for you but before you do that   go watch this video right here if you enjoyed  this video here today you're going to enjoy   this one too I promise click on this video head  over there and watch it and I'll see you there

Channel: Whitepepper Farms Homestead

Views: 354,058

Keywords: 9 reasons your chickens aren't laying eggs, Beginner tips for chickens, Chicken isn't laying eggs, Chickens for beginners, Chickens not laying eggs, Chickens stopped laying eggs, Chickens wont lay eggs, How to take care of chickens, Why are my chickens not laying eggs, Why chickens don't lay eggs, backyard chickens, backyard chickens for beginners, chickens, how to raise chickens, raising chickens, raising chickens for eggs, why have my chickens stopped laying eggs

Id: cZGeNTEllkc

Length: 15min 57sec (957 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 20 2022