Having your laying hens lay bigger and sizeable eggs is important but having them lay for a consistently longer period in their lifetime is more important in poultry business as this will guarantee a profitable farming.
It can be quite alarming when a poultry farmer gets a consistent ten crates of egg(30eggs/crate) daily, from 300laying hens, only to find just 5crates for a few days. This sudden drop in egg laying takes us all into a detective mode – are they hiding the eggs? Are they sick?
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| Drop in egg production |
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| Molting |
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| Untimely molting |
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY
When chickens are not well fed, egg production will decrease. This is mostly caused by imbalanced nutrition and low feed intake levels. Chickens tend to eat less when the feed is full of chaff and has less protein
WATER DEPRIVATION
Often times I have told egg producers to always make available more clean water as ingested nutrients are carried by water to where they are needed in the hen's system.
MOLTING
This is a vacation from egg laying to replace feather signalled by shorter days,lasts for 8-12weeks. High protein feeds and supplements like Sharivit will help faster feather regrowth
LIGHTING
Chickens need about 14-16 hours of light per day to produce eggs. The first year, most laying breeds will lay through the winter without artificial lighting. Exposure to light for less than the minimum time required results in a drop in egg production. On the other hand, when chickens are exposed to too much light, they reach sexual maturity at an early stage and they lay very small eggs.
STRESS AND CHANGE
Any stress such as moving, handling, changes in environmental conditions or fright can contribute to egg production declines.
Common stresses include:
1. Chilling: Chickens do not handle damp, drafty conditions well. Prevent excessive exposure to wet, drafty conditions during colder months.
2. Handling or moving: Once the laying flock is in place, limit any unnecessary movement and handling. Switching or changing the pens population will also disrupt the pens pecking order and cause some temporary social stress in your flock.
3. Parasites: If external or internal parasites are present, get proper diagnosis and treatment.
4. Fright: Limit the movement of children, dogs, livestock and vehicles around your flock as well as
loud noises to prevent frightening the hens.
5. Predators like snakes,cat,rat and mice also can stress the birds and create a decrease in egg production.
DISEASES
Disease problems can occur under the best of conditions. Often one of the first signs of disease is a drop
in egg production. Other symptoms of disease include dull and listless appearance, watery eyes and
nostrils, coughing, molting, lameness and mortality in the flock. Remember some death is normal over
the period of a year in any flock. However, if you suspect a disease, contact a skilled veterinarian for
help in examining your flock and get an accurate diagnosis and treatment.
Your best protection against disease is to buy healthy stock and keep them isolated from other birds.
Buying adult poultry and introducing them to your flock is asking for trouble. If you wish to increase
your flock, buy chicks from a reputable hatchery or hatch some of your own eggs. Adult birds can look healthy and carry diseases.
AGING HENS
Production hens can lay efficiently for two laying cycles. However, after two or three years, many hens
decline in productivity. This varies greatly from bird to bird. Good layers will lay about 50 to 60 weeks
per laying cycle. Between these cycles they will be interrupted by a rest period called a molt. Poorer layers and older hens will molt more often and lay less. Removal of non-layers recommended if economical egg production is your goal.
Other problems to consider when you see a decrease in egg collection:
( egg theft by farm workerhttps://youtu.be/AFm3blq9VnE)
1. Predators and snakes consuming the eggs.
2. Egg-eating by hens in the flock.
3. Excessive egg breakage.
4. Theft by farm workers
on a hen.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR LAYERS UNTIMELY DROPS OR STOPS LAYING
Place the birds on Molasses containiing vitamins like sharivit which is rich in choline chloride
The molasses is to;
1. Increase water intake
2. Increase feed intake
3. Supplement their energy requirements
The Vitamins and minerial are to;
1. Increase the metabolic activities
2. Stimulate some egg production hormones.
Read also;
Reasons why most farmers fail
How to prevent mortality in poultry farm
How to be a good poultry farmer
Vaccine failure, causes and prevention
How to eliminate odor in pig farm
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