My Chickens Stopped Laying Eggs! It Must Be The Feed, Right?

During the winter of 2023 a big rumor - or was it a panic? - spread across social media. "My chickens quit laying eggs!" The general theme from most folk posting such a claim was conspiracy oriented and often delved into the bird flu and whether that "flu" was even real or induced or embellished.

Well I followed along very casually in amusement. You cannot control "recommended content" from social platforms and I would be lying if I claimed I did not read or watch any of the claims. Sometimes I watched with a cup of lactose free yogurt and a bowl of popcorn. Try it... not bad.

As an economist I found the notion that a feed company would compromise the quality of its feed to the point it led to less egg production for backyard hens to be quite the stretch. I did not believe it. The ceremonial value (profit) must be balanced with the instrumental value (usefulness of the product) for the longterm viability of the corporation to survive. I simply did not believe there was a feed stock conspiracy.

Ironically, my own hens - barely a year old - began to lay fewer eggs. We have two hens who lay two eggs a day. Or did. All of a sudden we were getting one egg a day and occasionally none. At the same time they were dropping their feathers, which is called molting for the non-chicken owner.

So off I go digging around the world wide dirt pile and found out, yep, chickens slow down egg production during the molt. Basically, they are sending their energy to grow more feathers, moreso than less. I know that is not a scientific explanation but nor am I a biologist. I am an economist. Huge difference.

As I played in that world wide dirt pile I discovered that chickens will slow down egg production under stress, cold weather, short daylight hours and, of course, the molt. My friend Michael at MB Heritage Farms actually made a video about egg production that explains most of these factors, which is linked below.

Now the notion that feed companies would reduce the quality of their product was considered in light of molting, lack of enough sunlight, winter itself, and that artic blast (stress) we experienced back in December of 2022.

Given the options, why would so many people claim the feed companies were doing it purposely? It is not like raising hens for eggs is new. Then it dawned it me. It was new for many people, perhaps tens of thousands. Why? Many people reacted during the 2020-2021 crisis by (a) starting their own gardens and (b) raising hens for eggs. There you have it. Thousands and thousands of people doing something new with little knowledge of why hens might slow down or stop laying eggs. Thus erroneously concluding big business was out to screw them! "Buy those overpriced grocery eggs, peasant!"

I was new to raising chickens myself. Fortunately I had met Michael at MB Heritage Farms and he is the chicken whisperer of North Carolina. But how many thousands of people lacked access to an expert? Nearly all of them I suspect.

So it must be the feed, right? Wrong. I believe the rumor was due to content creators new to raising hens for eggs not realizing that what they were seeing is natural.

That's my two cents and I am sticking with it! And hey, if you want to grab some home harvested niche seeds check out MB Heritage's seed collection. It is a fantastic working farm in North Carolina, and if you are nice, Michael might even find you an elderberry cutting or two! :)

~Grow Your Own~