girls stopped laying

They came with the house which we moved into in October and I think the previous owner said they were 4?

cmarlowdrive said:

I have one Bantam that may be molting. Looks like there has been a pillow fight in the run. My bantams are rescues, so age unknown. They had been laying when we rescued them. I would say at least 2 years old.

Will try the 22% layer feed, but, company does not ship. Will have to drive to get it. Since my flock is mixed In age, I offer both layer and grower feed. They eat grower feed, mostly.

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Pillow fight is a sure sign of molting. Second autumn is normally when they do their first full molt and laying ceases.
Since they aren't laying, I'd switch to grower while providing another calcium source they can choose to eat or not.
It will likely extend their life. If they choose the grower when given the choice, they may be seeking the higher amino acid content.

Little Fuzzy said:

Mine get a little whole grain every evening in the run, no problem putting them away at night. On Sundays they get a can of Salmon. They love it. Also they love watermelon. I read on BYC that chickens can have watery poop during the hot weather because they are drinking more water.I saw one of my chickens let out about an eight of a cup of clear liquid along with it's normal stool.

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Runny poo is normal with higher water intake.
Salmon is great but a cheaper choice is canned mackerel. It is the cheapest kind of canned fish.

crealbilly said:

Have you wormed them? I found that when there eggs come out poopy its time to worm or laying slows way down and i suspect it would stop altogether if it didnt worm them.

To deworm i just add 1 TBS of food grade DE per chicken to their feed. Whsn the finish that I do it again then resume normal feeding.

Its worked well for me so far and its all about me learning to read the flock...

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Eggs should never come out poopy if there isn't a physiological problem The oviduct and digestive tract are 2 separate systems and never the twain shall meet even though there is a common exit.
If eggs are poopy, it is likely that the path to the nest is poopy.
The egg laying process closes off the digestive tract from the cloaca while the egg exits.

cmarlowdrive said:

I am getting 1 egg every other day which is down from 3-4 a day. My girls love the lettuce and grapes I used to give them, but, I read lettuce and fruit gives them the runs. Maybe it is just all the water they are drinking. I started giving them yogurt and oatmeal mix every morning for the tummy troubles. I cut back on watermelon too. They love canned tuna, but, I cut that out. Not sure what to do, but, they get their choice of 16% laying feed or grower, since not everyone is laying. The few eggs we get are very clean, always have been. No need to wash. I have not wormed them. Wouldn't I see worms in the poo?

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The extra animal protein from the tuna can't hurt at all. Read my above statement about mackerel.

lilchickenbutt said:

My chickens haven't layed an egg in almost a week. Nothing has changed in their diet or routine. They aren't molting either. I thought maybe the heat but they were laying on hotter days so that can't be it. I have no idea what the problem could be. They are a few years old but this was sudden.

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You may start seeing feathers around soon.
IMHO, temperature has little to do with it unless temps are extreme.
We need more info like what are they fed and where are you located?

lilchickenbutt said:

They came with the house which we moved into in October and I think the previous owner said they were 4?

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So they're 5 years old. As days get shorter, it isn't unusual at all for older hens to take time off till after winter solstice.

They actually layed eggs last winter. Only 4 chickens but still got at least one egg a day...even on the coldest days...
Pretty roomy coop too. They also roam daily if it's not bad out. They get the same layer feed they've always been fed.

They lay fewer and fewer eggs every year - mostly because they take a longer winter break each year after molt. Temperature has little to do with it. It's all about increasing and decreasing day length.
I did 3 months of spreadsheets last winter for all my flocks' egg production with daily high and low temperatures. There was no correlation between cold spells/extreme cold days and production.

You may want to consider switching to a grower or all-flock feed while none are laying so they don't get excessive calcium and not using it to build egg shells.

2 of the girls are definitely molting...this morning the coop looked like a pillow exploded. I can see the whole backside of my poor plymouth....

At least they are doing it before winter really hits...
Nothing more pathetic than a naked chicken in weather under 30*.

junebuggena said:

At they are doing it before winter really hits...
Nothing more pathetic than a naked chicken in weather under 30*.

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My Jaerhons molted in January. Being from Norway, even in single digits they were probably thinking "you call this cold?"