The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Draven Rock Homestead: What the Flock Series - Why Have My Chickens Stopped Laying?

Episode Date: November 19, 2023

The Mistress and Dane D discuss all the possible reasons why your chickens may have stopped or slowed down their egg production. SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:If you have questions, or just need prayer, please email me at:[e-mail] Draven Rock Homestead Merch here:https://dravenrockhomestead.creator-spring.comFind our Locals community here:https://dravenrockhomestead.locals.comFind our Patron community here:patreon.com/DravenRockHomesteadFind me on Instagram here:https://www.instagram.com/draven_rock_homestead/Find me on Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090222994092AFFLIATE LINKS:Nutrimill Grain Mill:https://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=437695&u=3797169&m=44804

Welcome to Dreamin' Rock, where we discuss homesteading, self-reliance, and unapologetic independence. Get ready for your host, the Mistress of Metal. Hey, hey, rock stars. It's Saturday again. The day that you're able to come and hang out with me for an hour. And me. I'm sorry. Yes. For you guys.

Mostly for you guys. I am the Mistress of Metal, and as you can tell, Dane D. from the Gun Metal Armory is here with me. Yep, that's why. I mean, yes. I mean, yes. If you're new to Draven Rock, welcome. If you're a returning listener, welcome back. I'm always happy and honored to have y'all here sharing the end of your week with me.

Today I have another really good chicken episode for you. another really good chicken episode for you. And we're going to talk about why your chickens may have stopped laying. But we'll get to that shortly. And what, if anything, you should do about it? Sure. Sure. First, if you want to connect with me,

you can find me on Instagram and Facebook under Draven Rock Homestead. If you're interested in some DRH merch, I have a Teespring shop also under the name Draven Rock Homestead. If you want to support Draven Rock, you can

do so on Patreon and Locals.com If you want to connect with me directly or privately, if you have questions or if you just need prayer, you can email me at dravenrockhomestead at proton.me. And as always, all those links can be found in the description of this podcast. I also have a new affiliate link for Nutramil who by the way is having a really awesome Black Friday sale right now they've got some pretty amazing deals on the Nutramil grain mills and

the Bosch mixers and a whole bunch of other stuff over there. So click on that affiliate link and head over there and see if you can find some really good deals. Maybe you can find somebody a good Christmas present this year. There you go. Okay, quick homestead update. What kind of update do we have today? Well, um...

Oh, I have been, speaking of grain mills and all that, I've been in the kitchen today trying to learn how to make pie crust with fresh milled wheat. It's not a process that's like your normal store-bought wheat okay or store-bought flour it's it's a process and so I tried two experiments today one with sifted flour that that took out the bran and one without that left the bran in. And they both turned out phenomenal. And I will post pictures of both of those with the pies that are going in them on Instagram. Good on you. Here in just a little bit.

So head on over there and check that out and I'm gonna I'm gonna try to maybe try to you know I should really start doing some videos on rumble you think so yeah okay we can do a video I mean you know make just make quick little clips and yeah show how you make this stuff. Because I'm going to have to make our Thanksgiving meal this year for us and his parents and his brother and whoever else is coming. And Dane and I don't eat store-bought flour anymore and i want to try to get his parents into not eating store-bought junk anymore either so it was important for me to try and learn how to make pie crust and so uh and a healthier version of pumpkin pie which i'm going to try that tonight and if it works out great i'm going to put that on instagram too moist um so when i went searching for recipes for uh uh sorry i lost my train of, pie crust recipes for fresh mill grain.

The ones that I came across seemed to be really, really dry, and they would just crack and kind of tear apart when people would try to roll them out and then put them into the pie plate. And this morning I woke up and I thought, I have an idea. So Dane's mom cannot have certain foods anymore. have certain foods anymore and it's another challenge for me instead of using butter this year I'm having to use other oils so what I did today was I used a recipe that was my grandmother's and I think probably my great-grandmother's recipe for pie crust. And I just kind of modified it a little bit and used coconut oil,

solidified coconut oil instead of butter. Oh. And both of the pie crusts turned out really good. They were not at all dry. I did have a little bit of trouble getting them off the counter, but that's just because I didn't have enough flour on the counter when I was rolling it out. But when I was able to transfer them to the pie plates, they did not tear. They did not rip.

They went in really well um and i can't wait to share that with y'all because it's i'm really excited about it it's really cool i'm really excited it's awesome i have already made a pecan pie because dane loves pecan pie because Dane loves pecan pie. And I had to do something with the crust, right? Because I don't know how long a pre-baked crust is going to last. I don't know if me making it today is going to be okay for me to use it on Thursday. So I'm going to have to make another crust. But I went ahead and made a pecan pie earlier today,

and I'll make the healthier version of pumpkin pie here in just a little bit, and I'll share all of that with you on Instagram. If you're into that, go check it out. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about a subject that's maybe kind of a hot topic right now, maybe not. I mean, it is kind of the fall going into winter, and new chicken parents kind of wonder why their chickens have stopped laying. Yeah. Just all of a sudden.

their chickens have stopped laying. Yeah. Just all of a sudden. Like a lot of people don't really understand it, and then you see all these videos come up on YouTube. How can you get your chickens to start laying again, you know, in the winter? How do you keep them laying all year long? Yeah. Well, we're going to talk about that today.

Yes, yes. So, as I mentioned before, as you raise your first flock, you learn a lot from that experience. We have nine hens in our flock. We did have ten, but as we've said before, one of them decided to be a boy. Yep, yep. Ethel turned into... Was it Ethel or was it Esther? It was Ethel. Ethel turned into... Was it Ethel or was it Esther? It was Ethel. Ethel turned into Willis, and so Willis had to go find someplace else to live.

Actually, Ethel was Willis all along. Didn't turn into anything. Yeah, that's true. That's true. We thought that he was an Ethel, but... Yeah, initially. The features didn't track with a rooster until a certain point. But, of course, it was our first, you know, bout into chicken parenting.

So, we didn't know a lot. I mean, obviously, you know, she had read a lot. Yeah, I did get him from, I got all of my chickens from the same feed store, or the same chain of feed stores in our local area. And, you know, sometimes you just end up with a boy rooster, with a boy chicken, rather. So, Dane wouldn't let me keep him. I had to send him to live somewhere else. He lived a good long time, I'll say that, before he had to protect his ladies. Yep, he had to do his thing, protect his women.

He put up a good fight from what we understand, so we're very proud of him for doing his job. Yep. we understand so we're very proud of him for doing his job yep anyway so now we have nine hands in our flock and and also i want to make i want to make one thing clear to y'all out there if you do have roosters or if you do have kids that and you have roosters anything like that if you ever need to explain that to them you explain it to them as that that rooster is is the hero he is there to protect those hens okay and if he has to lay down his life to do it he will yep okay that's that's the key there y'all you need to understand that and if there is no rooster there will be a hen that will take up that mantle if i'm not mistaken yeah generally sometimes yeah so um that's

something to keep in mind okay if you guys have a rooster now he may seem intimidating to you occasionally when you come into his um area where his ladies are but that is because that is what he is doing instinctually okay and there are ways to dominate your rooster to make sure he understands that you're the king in that area. And, you know, only takes on other people. So just,

just a little aside there for you guys. Okay. Yeah. So we have nine hens in our flock and they are our first flock and we haven't added to them yet but we have certainly learned a lot by having them they are about probably a little over two and a half years old at this point so they're mature ladies, but they always, or they will always, rather, be my feather babies, my first little feather babies. They were so cute when I brought them home.

Anyway, so, if you've recently had a dip in your egg production and you're scared and you're wondering what the deal is, I have some possible reasons why and an explanation for each. So, first one is going to be stress. It depends on what time of year it is too, okay? And we'll get to that in just a minute. stress it depends on what time of year it is too okay and we'll get to that in just a minute um stress could potentially stop your hens from laying and they could stop laying for months lots of things can stress them out too okay it could be changes in the coop so what i mean by that is sometimes just cleaning the coop can stress them out.

Sometimes having new smells in the coop can stress them out. Stress them out. Cleaning their nesting boxes can stress them out or bringing in new nesting boxes with new smells can stress them out oh yeah wow um so it just kind of all depends just kind of all can stress them out. Yeah, I mean, you know, anything can really. I mean, but think about it. Think about it this way, okay?

If you're a hen and you're used to your nesting box or your series of nesting boxes being a certain way and smelling a certain way, and then the next day you walk in there and hey what is this who's been in my room what is happening in this box and then they go to the next one and it doesn't smell the same either and on and on and on so when we took everything out and cleaned it and they were probably a little bit stressed i was too though i mean it was like man and then we switched things around a little bit in there too with the other one so yeah yeah i i can see why that might be stressful for them yeah and if you guys hear a meow it's our cat being a jerk because it's getting close to him to need to be fed so i may disappear in a

little bit to go help him normally i don't think that uh cleaning the coop or having new smells or bringing in new nesting boxes or cleaning them i don't really think that stresses them out for too long uh it's just you know they have to get their scent back on stuff you know I think they don't stress out for very long over that but something else that could cause stress for them is predators oh that's true we have a lot of coyotes around here and we also have snakes and rats and javelina uh we have dogs i mean we have a really strict leash law around here in this little bitty small town but for whatever reason dogs just you know dogs get sometimes, and they run all over the neighborhood. And we've had several dogs up here recently that we've had to run off.

So that could stress them out. But in other places, you've got wolves and foxes, skunks, raccoons, possums. All kinds of birds of prey yeah in Texas there's wild hogs there's javelina here too yeah I said javelina sometimes neighborhood cats

even can stress them out and what it comes down to is that well you said hawks, right? Birds of prey? Yeah. Basically what

it comes down to is they're looking for a quick and easy meal. Yep. And chicken can be a quick and easy meal. Mm-hmm. I eat chicken every week, so I don't know if they would. So, if you've recently had a predator attack or an attempted attack

or there's been a predator nearby or in the area or they've been in close proximity like you know neighborhood dogs running up to the fence

things like that that can really stress them out Like, you know, neighborhood dogs running up to the fence. Yeah. Things like that. That can really stress them out. If you've had an attack, though, I would suggest strongly that you reinforce your coop and your run or whatever area you have them in. If you have them in a fenced yard or whatever, you've got to secure that area. And also think about if you've got a fenced-in area and you're going to put an electric fence around that area like we did, be cognizant of what kind of fencing you're using to fence them

in and if their little heads can get through that fencing because we we have an electrified fence around our um our garden fence and it's attached to you know the the t-posts and the wood and stuff that is around the fence, but we can't turn it on when they're on the inside wandering around the garden because they can stick their head outside of the fence and get weeds and plants and bugs and stuff that are on the outside of the fence. And if they did that, the electrical line runs low enough where they would just shock the crap out of themselves yeah i think that's two by four i think or two by four inch it's either two inch by four inch or two inch by three yeah uh welded wire fencing wire yep yeah so just something to keep

in mind now there are solutions for that of course you can put the like the hardware cloth the quarter inch hardware cloth all along the bottom of your fence and for those of you even half inch yeah even half inch for those of y'all that don't know what hardware cloth is just look it up online it's basically just kind of a metal mesh if you will a lot of people put it in the bottom of their raised beds before they fill them in with landscape fabric and then with soil because it keeps, you know, groundhogs and things like that from digging underneath. Rabbits and squirrels. Yeah. So attaching that kind of like hardware cloth along the bottom of your fence could easily be done with like hog rings or zip ties even you know you'd have to check them

occasionally because of the sun you know and uv damage but other than that you know something to consider we actually have the girls run covered with that half inch hardware cloth oh yeah the the run itself yeah because we ain't letting nothing get in there and then we have it it actually comes out from the run onto the ground a little ways out and then we've got that covered with center blocks so nothing can dig under

at least not easily it would require quite a bit of time and effort now little tiny field mice and things like that, of course they can get in. Yeah. They'll just keep digging until they get in. Yeah. Something big won't get in there.

Right. And that's our point, you know. So when predators are close by or in the area, you can weigh your pros and cons about this, but just keep in mind that, as we were saying before, protecting the flock is a rooster's job. He is the watchman on the wall. He's the high alert system. He's that infantry soldier that's there to protect his ladies. That's true.

But sometimes you can't have a rooster. It depends on what your local laws are, what your local ordinances are. So please check into that. But if you can have a rooster i would consider it but like i said it's going to be up to you guys weigh your pros and cons make a list of both and then do your research on which ones are usually the have the best temperament have the best temperament with humans. But also keep in mind that just because the chart on the wall at Tractor Supply says that barred rock roosters are usually friendly,

doesn't mean that they will be because every chicken has its own personality. That's very true. Okay, so something else that could stress them out would be a recent move. So if you've moved to a new home or maybe a new town, that could stress them out, just the move in general. But also, again, new sounds and smells that they don't recognize. Also, again, new sounds and smells that they don't recognize. If the new sounds are the case, or even the new smells, you don't really have to worry about it.

They will get used to it after a while. They just have to kind of get over it, I guess, or get used to it. over it, I guess, or get used to it. You know, sometimes even just moving the coop or moving the run to a different location on your property, that also can have different sounds and smells, and that could stress them out. Yeah. But again, they'll get used to it. Mm-hmm. Temperature changes could cause them some stress.

Either warmer weather or cooler weather. If there's extreme changes in either direction, that could stress them out. And then new flock members can be stressful. Because they have to reestablish the pecking order. Yeah, they'll be like, what the fuck? Yeah, yeah. And there's really not a whole lot you can do to help them over their stress once they've gone into full anxiety mode.

You just kind of have to let them work it out for themselves. Eventually, they'll get back to normal, but there's no set time frame for that, so just be patient with them. Let's see. Another thing that could stress them out is their health. You know, we've had some health issues with our girls lately. Oh, have we ever. some health issues with our girls lately oh have we ever um we'll get into that in another show because we're still kind of having a few issues but this time with one of the same and a couple

of different ones yeah so it's really just really weird we're still in the battle. But healthy and happy birds make better eggs. So keep that in mind. Sick and or injured birds could cause either no production or very low production during the healing process because their bodies are trying to repair and recover and they have to put all their energy into getting better. If they've got feather loss, if they're going through a molt, which a couple of ours, or I think four of ours are going through a really heavy molt right now. There's feathers everywhere. Yeah, it looks like a little chicken crime scene.

Yeah, like a pillow fight went down. Like crazy. Bessie is one of our barred bard rocks and I really think she's the head hen. She has absolutely no feathers right now. She looks silly. I took pictures of her last weekend and I need

to get those posted on Instagram too because y'all woof. She is looking so pitiful. But if they're molting it's a whole different story altogether. woof, she is looking so pitiful. But if they're molting, it's a whole different story altogether. But if they're losing feathers and you know it's not a molt, then there is a reason for it.

They may be sick, so if they are, then it's a good idea to take them aside from the rest of the flock for a few minutes just to look them over if you have a separate like a dog kennel or something to keep them in for a couple of days to try and decide what's wrong with them i would highly highly suggest doing that, we did that with Gladys last year, or no, earlier this year, and she got better, and we had to reintegrate her with the flock afterwards, but she's back in there now, so I would highly suggest doing that, although if your run, or your enclosure, enclosure or whatever is big enough that you can keep the dog kennel out there with the rest of the flock during the day

and just keep the sick one in the sick bay but where the other ones can still see her all the time, it won't be nearly as bad trying to, well, I guess you really probably wouldn't have to reintegrate them. You just let them out. But I guess there is a possibility that she could be out of the pecking order and she'd have to reestablish herself. It's always a possibility. Definitely.

Definitely a difficult situation for sure. Yeah. And sometimes things can be thrown into upheaval like one of your Jersey Giants decides that she ain't taking a crap no more when she comes back and it's just this weird thing. Yeah.

Like. One Jersey Giant decided that she wasn't taking it from gladys no more and she chases she chases gladys around but that same jersey giant gets chased around by everybody else so like how does this make any sense like i just don't get it. Okay, so another health issue would be insufficient nutrition. Now, if y'all have listened to any of my other What the Flock series episodes before, you know that this is a big bugaboo for me. I've actually I think done two

shows on this topic before I believe. If you're a regular listener you know I'm pretty passionate about this subject so proper nutrition is

it's a big deal. About this subject. So. Proper nutrition. Is it. Is. It's a big deal. It really is. And. I see all kinds of videos. And posts. And.

Things everywhere. Free chicken feed. Never have to buy chicken feed again. But no. No. No. No. Just no.

Okay. There's just a huge amount of wrong information on the internet. And I just want you guys to be aware of that. the internet and I just want you guys to be aware of that The him their feed should be no less than 16% protein content and I know you've probably heard that before but I highly recommend Going no lower than 18% No lower than 18 they also need other things in their diet like omega-3s and

calcium and magnesium and trace minerals and they need fats and carbs and pre and probiotics because all of those things are vital for their little bodies to actually be able to make the egg so it's important that you feed them a high-quality feed and not the crap from the bargain bin. I mean, I will advocate that all day, every day, 365 days a year. We recently just increased our girls' protein content from 18 to 21. Just because we do have those several girls that are going through really heavy malts right now and high protein is what they need to regenerate those feathers making feathers and making eggs is a big business in a chicken's life and you

have to give them good nutrition you just have to their protein consumption like i just said will need to be i'm looking at my notes sorry will need to be increased in the winter months um and they'll need a bit more protein and carbs to help keep their bodies warm i talked about winterizing your chicken coop and the chicken run on my last episode. If you didn't listen to that, go find it and listen to it. Right now. Well, after the podcast, actually. And let's see. Oh, yeah.

I don't have time to go fully into this today. But if you're thinking about making your own feed or you, like I've said before, you've seen TikTok videos or people saying just feed them sprouts or grass or something like that. I'm begging you. I'm begging you to please do your own research. In fact, I would say start your research by going back and finding my other shows on that exact topic. I've actually talked to a veterinarian who is an expert in poultry and who works for the University of Kentucky about this very subject. And I got some amazing insight from her I haven't been able to get an interview with her yet

for the show but we conversed via email and she's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to poultry so go back and find my other shows on making your own chicken feed um and then you know go from there but i don't recommend it as a supplemented uh thing to your chicken's diet,

you want to give them sprouts and all that stuff, go right ahead. But don't let that be their main source. The key word there is supplement. Yeah. Right. Another health thing is insufficient water.

If they don't have a good source of clean, fresh water every day, or if they go without water for too long, it could trigger them to stop laying. Uh, in fact, if you didn't know, a chicken usually will not eat if she knows she doesn't have a good source of water. So you'll have to make sure that the water isn't frozen or freezing in the winter months. And I would suggest investing in a water that has a heater in order to keep that from happening and you'll need to make sure that they aren't running out of water in the summer or in the hotter months as the temps go up and it gets hotter outside they usually drink more water to keep their bodies cooler

because they don't sweat. Chickens don't sweat. No. So they're going to need that water to keep them from cooking their insides when it starts to get hot. So the takeaway for the health issue for the health issue is that I strongly advocate that every chicken owner keep a watchful eye on their flocks. Observe them daily. Know their usual behaviors both as the flock and the individual hens. Because like I've said, they all have their own individual personalities

example of that is I have two Rhode Island Reds their names are Annie and Mildred but it should be Thelma and Louise because they are just best buds and they are always causing trouble. Always. But they you hardly see one without the other close by. That's true. And Annie is also my tattletale. She tells on people. She does. Even when it's time to go to bed at night

she'll jump down off the perch and like start making noise. When, when I'm picking up her droppings for the day out of the coop floor, she'll jump down off the roost bar and like kind of sit at the edge of the roost tray where all the stall dry is and she'll just, she'll get right kind of up to my ear, and she'll just talk to me. Like, what are you trying to tell me, dude?

And I just listen to her, and I just have a little conversation with her, and then when I'm done picking up what I need to pick up, I just set her back on the roost, and I close the doors and tell them goodnight. It's very sweet. But chickens

are very active. They should be very active. If you ever notice that they're acting lethargic or extra tired or if you notice that they're hanging out away from the flock. Maybe they're not eating or drinking as much as they should or like they usually do if

they're laying down on their sides but you know they're not taking a dust bath because sometimes, and that's another reason why it's important to watch their behaviors because sometimes when they lay down their sides to take dust baths you honestly think there's something wrong with them like they're about to just roll over and die it looks really strange they contort their bodies and you think they're literally about to die so but it's not like that at all they're just dust bathing but if you know for a fact they're laying on their sides and it's not a dust bath contortion or if they have droopy wings those are all major red flags that your hens are sick or injured or both.

And you'll have to find out what's wrong with them because it could mean life or death for that hen. And when I say that, life or death could come quick. Like it could be a situation where you've been at work all day and you haven't been able to notice what's going on with this one, and then you get home and you notice the behavior, but it's too late. Yep. They can go down pretty quick sometimes. So you have to keep that in mind.

And if that's the case, you case, I would suggest if you can, go ahead and cordon them off. Quarantine them. Get them into the sick bay. You might be able to help them or at least make them comfortable until the time comes. Because the other hands are going to realize that something's not right and they're going to peck the crap out of them. They're going to beat them up. So put them into hospice or whatever you have to do you know i also strongly advocate that every chicken owner needs to set aside one or two days per month whatever days fit into your schedule so the first and the 15th or the first and the third weekends or whatever works for you to give them all a good once over.

To make sure that they don't have bumble foot or that they have broken or injured toes or feet or leg bones or whatever. feet or leg bones or you know whatever which if that's the case they would most likely be limping but if you were paying attention to them every day then you would know that right which is why I advocate for knowing their behaviors and you also need to check their fluffy butt feathers because you don't want their um those feathers to be caked up with poop or mud and you definitely don't want it to be so bad that it's caked up their vents because that could kill them if it's an adult version of little chick pasty butt they wouldn't be able to poop and they wouldn't be able to lay and that could that'd take them down really quick

just like it would a human being so when you set aside those one or two days per month think feet, beaks waddles, combs but also check the eyes and the wings and the fluff feathers. You know what?

Just check the whole bird. Just check it all. Just check the whole bird. Okay, we're going to take a break really quickly and then we'll come back with some other issues as to why they could have stopped laying. We'll be back with some other issues as to why they could have stopped laying.

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going to be shorter days which means winter is coming. Dun, dun, dun. Shorter days means less sunlight, right? Right. And chickens need about 14 or 16 or so hours of sunlight a day to complete the egg laying cycle. So some people advocate for putting lights in their coops on a timer to give them more light in an attempt to keep egg production from dropping off too much throughout the winter. Okay. However, I do not recommend that at all. Why not? If you've listened to my other shows before, you know. But if you haven't before, winter is a time for chickens to rest and recuperate after a long year of hard work.

And it is hard work making an egg. It is. Eggs and feathers. That is hard work making an egg. It is. Eggs and feathers, that is hard work. Pumping them out. And it's a natural process for them. Think of it as being their God-given vacation time. Yep. Why would you want to ruin their vacation time by making them work more?

Yeah. Would you want somebody to ruin your vacation by making you work? No. I wouldn't either. And I'm not going to do that to my girls either. Be kind of lame. Also, think of it this way. If your chickens lived out in the wild, their bodies instinctively know, uh, oh gosh, I'm sorry, I just lost a train of thought. Their bodies instinctively know, um, when they're, oh my gosh. When their, when their cycle is happening. When they're, when they lay eggs and when they're supposed to stop and when they're supposed to start up again. Just like, you know, spring and winter and all that stuff happens as far as normal animals go in the world, right? Oh, I know what I was going to say. Okay, so their bodies instinctively know that if they were to lay fertilized eggs and hatch those eggs in the wintertime,

that those babies would not survive the winter. They probably wouldn't even last a day or two, especially if it was really cold outside. Because baby chicks cannot regulate their body temperature. I've talked about that before, too, on a previous show. And since a hen doesn't want to lose any babies, her good mama instincts tell her to hold off laying eggs until warmer months. Which makes sense. Right. Okay, so that's the most obvious for this time of year. If your chickens have dropped egg production or if they've completely stopped altogether, it's because the days are shorter,

and they don't have enough sunlight to complete their egg cycle. You can put a light in their coop if you want to, to try and make them lay some more, but I would not at all recommend that. Let them rest. Yep. Let them come back strong in spring. Let's see. We talked about molting.

Well, molting is out with the old and with the new. Yeah. Is what I have written down here. So it's the shedding of their old feathers and replacing them with new feathers. And that usually happens in the late summer, early fall portion of the year. And growing new ones in preparation for the upcoming winter. And like before, just know that it's going to look like massive pillow fights have happened in the coop. And it's going to look like little chicken crime scenes. And you're going to notice that your birds are half naked.

But don't freak out. It's okay. They will grow back. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. But you'll freak out. It's okay. They will grow back. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. But you'll see them. Their little feather shafts will have these little, looks like fur sticking out of them. But that's the new feather. Yeah, don't chase them around the yard yelling, put your clothes back on.

That's not cool. Put your clothes on. Oh, also, keep this in mind, too. When they're molting, the feather regrowth is a pretty painful business. It's not just hard work. It's painful. So if you can at all avoid it, try not to pick them up or handle them too much while they're trying to regrow. Obviously, you can handle them, but don't just do it for fun.

Right. I would say that petting them should be off limits. Yeah. I mean, if you have to work on their feet or something like that. Yeah. You know, anything like that. Just try to understand. If they've pulled out a pin feather and it's bleeding, obviously you have to take care of that and you have to pick them up and handle them. Yeah. That's something

that can't be avoided, but. But keep to a minimum. Right. Don't just do it because you want to. If you can all keep away from the urge to pet them and love on them, don't do it while they're trying to regrow their feathers. Because that pain could trigger a stress episode. It could set them back even further once they have regrown their feathers and again there's nothing you can really do to help them and their their stress level while they're molting it's a natural process and they just have to go through it every year process and they just have to go through it every year yep and let's see what was this one up here oh hidden eggs yeah do you have sneaky hens?

That's the question I wrote down for that one. Yeah. So you could think that you're not getting any eggs that they've stopped laying or a couple of them have stopped laying but you need to check the coop to see if you or even the run or whatever wherever they are during the day to see if there's any hidden. Because sometimes broody mamas will just take eggs. She'll either lay her eggs in a certain spot or she'll like somehow take eggs to a certain spot and she'll just sit on them.

She's going to take these over here and sit on them. Right. Just don't bother me, please. But broody mamas do not lay eggs while they're broody. They can, like I said, they can hide them, and they'll hide them from the rest of the flock, too. Jeez. And if she wants to be a mama and her one purpose in life at that point is to hatch babies,

she doesn't want anybody bothering her. She's like, don't come over here. Don't come over here. If you have a broody mama, ask yourself these questions. Number one, do you have a rooster? And if you do, then you need to candle those eggs to see if there's babies growing in them or not. If you don't have a rooster, then you'll need to break her from being broody because that will, she'll literally sit on those eggs that are never going to hatch until she dies of thirst

and or starvation or both. Yeah, we've had to take ours out of the nesting boxes, one of our breweries, out of the nesting box and just kind of put up wood in front of it. Yeah. So she wouldn't keep going back to it. Some people will say just to leave them alone and let them continue to sit for the 21-day incubation period. But I'm telling you, that doesn't always work even after that 21 days they may still continue to sit and sit and sit like well where i've been waiting right and it will lead to her death because when they're when they're stubbornly broody they don't leave the nest except for

maybe once or twice a day to get a quick snack and a drink and then it's back to the box to sit on those eggs because that is her purpose and if that eating and drinking behavior continues for too long, it'll kill her because she'll emaciate. And there won't be anything left of her. So the solution to that is to break her over broodiness. I will caution you, though, if you go to move her or to take the eggs away from her,

she may yell at you. And she may peck at you. If that's something that doesn't bother you, then it's no big deal. But if that worries you, just know that you are much bigger than she is. And it doesn't really hurt that much. It doesn't. It may peck at you. I mean, it may leave a little red mark

or it may draw a tiny tiny bit of blood but honestly they're just doing what they're programmed to do okay so don't get mad at it just be the gentle dominant one put a glove in the coop if you have to put like a leather glove on or something if you're scared either way just be aware and mentally prepare yourself that she could raise a stink about it yes she have a few things to say um now if you have new layers first year layers sometimes especially with first year layers uh they either don't know to lay in the nesting boxes or they just don't know to lay in the nesting boxes or they just don't want to and to fix that is you well and this doesn't always work either but you can put golf balls

or the ceramic eggs in the nests in the nesting boxes to let them know, hey, do your business in here. Again, that doesn't always work, but you can give it a try. Yep. Um, and then sometimes the problem is that there's not enough nesting boxes, uh, and they'll just kind of lay wherever. So my rule of thumb is one box for every two to three hens, although other people's opinions differ from mine. If you don't have enough nesting boxes for the number of hens that you keep, that could be the reason for,-unquote hidden eggs. However, that being said, chickens are very clicky, and sometimes whoever lays the first egg for the day will basically set the it spot or the cool nest for that day, and then all the other ones want to lay in that box too is this where

we're laying okay yeah so um let's see if if the problem is that there's not enough nesting boxes, just give them more. You can build them or you can buy them. It's your choice. I've seen people make nesting boxes out of five-gallon buckets before. And we've actually had to use five-gallon buckets in our dog kennel when Gladys was inside at the beginning of the year. And, you know, she'd lay in

there. So, it's just up to you, kind of, how you want to do it. But you can find all kinds of ideas on Pinterest and on YouTube of how people have made their nesting boxes. Yeah, lots of options. I made ours out of

plywood. Some people use litter boxes Yeah, lots of options. I made ours out of plywood. Some people use litter boxes and all kinds of stuff. Yep. If you cannot see an obvious reason why they're not laying in the nests, make sure that the nests are clean and that they have new soft bedding. Make sure that there's no eggs

that have been broken in the nest and that there's no poop in there. And make sure that there's no bugs in there or snakes because I've seen horrible videos where snakes were in the nesting boxes and the hens wouldn't go in there and the owners didn't know. I check our boxes every day. Yeah, just keep in mind, they're not dumb. Yeah. Okay, there's a reason for it. You gotta look. Yeah. But it's important to check the entirety of the coop regularly, and I would even advocate for several times a week to check,

just to make sure that there's no random eggs laying around, or that you don't have a broody mama on your hands that's trying to hatch eggs that are never going to hatch. And then I think my final one up here is age. Where are they in their life cycle? So year one is going to be their most productive year hands down. Year two and beyond, egg production will decrease and it could decrease by as much as 10 to 20% every year depending on the breed and the individual hen. year depending on the breed and the individual hen. If all of the birds in your flock are the same age, just know that at some point you're not going to be getting many eggs from them anymore. That's why most chicken keepers will add new members to the flock every year or every other year so that their production stays pretty consistent.

However, if your goal is to keep your chickens for food production purposes to feed your family, you may want to look into raising meat birds or consider adding to your laying flock every year and you can harvest the older birds after two or three years of life. And I think that's pretty much, I think that's all I had. Yep, that's all I had. So the main takeaway for this is to keep your birds healthy, keep them happy. If it's molting that's the problem, just know that that's stressful and painful, but they'll get past it and they'll start laying again. However, they usually start molting around the same time

that the days start getting shorter. And so if it's kind of a double-edged sword right there, they're going to pick back up in the spring. And even in the wintertime, you're going to have some that are going to lay not consistent every day like you may be used to getting, but they will lay. I think right now we're getting, on average, probably two eggs a day. Yeah, we'll get back to it.

Don't worry. Yeah. And if they're getting older, know that the older they get, the less they're going to lay. Right. And keep an eye out for broody mamas and hidden eggs

and yeah so I think I think that's all I have yeah I think that's all I could think of you've given them a lot of good information

that they can kind of take and understand and then they can come back and listen to it again if they need to yeah i hope i've given you some good information if you have any questions please please feel free to message me on facebook or instagram you can email me directly whatever you need to do And if I don't know the answer. I will find you an answer. Nice.

Yeah. So I'm going to end this for today. I'll be back next week. Even though this is Thanksgiving week. I will be back next week. Because I have another show I want to do. A really good one. A really good one. So. I can't wait

that is going to be all for tonight and I will see you all next Saturday y'all have a good one good night everybody thanks for joining us tune in next week as the mistress increases the momentum toward relentless freedom.

Right here on Draven Rock.