13 hens not laying

[burgerusmc]

Hey guys I have 13 hens of various breeds that are cold hardy that have all together stopped laying eggs. I haven't gotten a single egg in 9 days. The hens appear to be healthy. It has gotten colder here in Maryland but I didn't figure they stop completely. Any help to get some eggs coming?

 

[Skylercarr]

They could be molting. I also live in harford county md.

 

[burgerusmc]

Nice! It's just weird to me not a single one has laid at all. Wonder how long to let it slide until it becomes a problem

 

[donrae]

How old are they?

 

[burgerusmc]

Most are a year or so, some are 7 months

 

[aart]

I'd guess molting.
Do they free range?

 

[burgerusmc]

No they don't. It's 13 of them and they have a 20x20 area that they're in. I let the free range for a few hours, but the hound dog would have chicken dinner every night of they free ranged all day.

 

[Spartan22]

Our temps are kind of similar, all my 8 months black copper Marans took a winter break already. While other older breeds are either molting, some laying. The other 8 month olds RIR & Plymouth rocks are still laying but I have light supplement in the morning, on @4am and off @8am so I can feed and clean before I go to work. They get less 13 hours of daylight. I know I read mostly here that they need 14 hours for production but I opted for less since I know most countries close to equator have even 12 hours or less of daylight but their birds will lay eggs regardless.

After saying that, maybe you want to supplement your coop with light starting in September if you want eggs, to help them not take a break on production. In my case I only have the supplement light for logistic reason (feeding, cleaning) since I leave for work when it's dark and come home from work dark already.
From January - March I only have the lights for an hour in the morning. Hope this helps you for some insights.

 

[burgerusmc]

Awesome. It does help. Thanks for the info. May try that! Imostly wanted to make sure it wasn't something wrong with them