The hens stopped laying eggs....

[DawnGrace]

Is this weird or what? The lady that brings my farm eggs says for the last 2 weeks her hens have STOPPED laying eggs ! AND the farm lady behind her said HERS have done the same thing....they cannot attribute it to ANYTHING that they know of. What's up? Maybe the Rapture is near?

[Cd4u_2]

I hear that it is common for hen not to lay eggs every now and then.

[spbluebird]

That is interesting; I googled it and found this very possible reason (since we are in the shortest daytime of the year this month):

A common question from small backyard laying flock owners is "Why have my hens stopped laying?" There are many factors which can cause hens to stop laying and in many cases there are multiple causes which add up to few or no eggs.

The most common causes of decreased egg production include: decreasing daylength, improper nutrition, disease, advancing age and stress.

A. Decreasing day length or insufficient day length

Hens require 14 hours of day length to sustain egg production. Once day length drops below 12 hours, production will decrease and frequently stop. This happens naturally from October through February. To prevent this, provide artificial light to maintain a constant day length of at least 14 hours per day. One 40 watt light for each 100 square feet of coop is adequate. The lights should be added in the morning hours so the birds can go to roost as the sun sets. This prevents birds from being stranded in the dark when lights are turned out during dark hours.

Some small flock owners find it easier to leave the lights on continuously. This is not a problem as long as you do not use light bulbs over the 40 watt size. However, the time clock will help lower your electric bill.

from http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/poultry/factsheets/34.html

[Buzzardhut]

Is this weird or what? The lady that brings my farm eggs says for the last 2 weeks her hens have STOPPED laying eggs ! AND the farm lady behind her said HERS have done the same thing....they cannot attribute it to ANYTHING that they know of. What's up? Maybe the Rapture is near? I don't think hens get raptured :scratch

Maybe the eggs were raptured :lol2

[DawnGrace]

Thanks! I will email her with this info

[medbiller777]

My hens always quit laying this time of the year. It is due to short days. If you want eggs in the winter you have to hook up a light in the hen house. Last year I did this and they began producing again!

[frodo82801]

My hens always quit laying this time of the year. It is due to short days. If you want eggs in the winter you have to hook up a light in the hen house. Last year I did this and they began producing again!

Is that what it is? I was afraid it was a New World Order thing. The Bilderbergers ordered chickens to stop laying eggs or something.

[SumSam]

So they're not hatching a plot then? :scratch

[fishersofmen]

mmmmmmmmmmm, fresh eggs, wish I lived near you!!!

[Racheal59]

......Let us not forget the lessons we learned from the behavior of ALL the animals before the tsunami hit in India the first time. The animals knew what was coming before the human beings did because they all went to a place of safety. And later I had read that when the Indians brought the elephants back, the elephants were willing to help them with the clean up. I believe God has everything balanced, and there is a reason he created all of creation first before he created man last. All things that sustain creation had to be in order first before God's Greatest Creation was created, mainly MANKIND. So we really should watch the animals and their behaviors because they know when something is wrong. You've heard the stories about how dogs can tell if someone is sick right? I mean, I bet some of you know more about that than I do.

I'm amazed that you guys take care of chickens! I sure wish I knew how, I think I'd do it myself! When I was a little girl, my parents kept chickens in a koop and also rabbits also in another one. (which we made pets out of and my father had to sell the rabbits). We just chased the chickens and didn't make pets out of them though :lol2
But what you're saying about the extra light sounds about right from what my parents did with them too.