Under ideal conditions, chickens will lay an egg once every 24 to 26 hours. Hens might take a short vacation from laying eggs and the reasons range from life stage to when the sun rises and sets. Some of these reasons are natural while others can be fixed with simple changes. It’s up to us as flock raisers to solve the mystery of why farm fresh eggs might be missing from the nesting box. First, confirm your hen isn’t hiding her eggs and creating a nest outside the coop. Then, before you go looking for an egg thief, here are five factors to consider that can affect egg production: 1. Daylight The first and most common cause of decreased egg production is light hours. Hens need a minimum of 16 hours of daylight to sustain strong production. Without supplemental light, they may naturally stop laying eggs due to a hormonal response as the days get shorter. Hens lay best when provided at least 16 hours of day light, whether natural, artificial or a combination of the two. Some flo...
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