HELP!!!!!!!!!!! ALL of my hens have stopped laying eggs!

[TeaChick]

I have a white cochin hen she is siting on the nest but there is no eggs under her and she hasn't been laying... What do I do?????

I saw something on the site about breaking broodiness. I know they don't lay when they're broody (they can only handle raising so many chicks at one time, so.... stands to reason, they'd stop reproducing/laying when they're mom-ing).
Maybe you could alternatively, look in the swap section for hatching eggs and put her broodiness to go use???

 

[TeaChick]

I'm having the exact same problem. I have 3 white leghorns and 4 gold comets and I KNOW FOR SURE that at least two of each were laying, then I had to keep them cooped b/c of a fox and now I'm down to getting only one white egg almost every day (I think we're down to five a week, if that).

I am moving them to a different coop, where they'll be getting more light. I'll keep them in there for seven nights, then let them free range again (and see if they go back in at night).

Someone said something about salt. I guess I'll look that up, unless someone wants to save me the finger work of trying to find it and just tell me what's up with salt and what to do about it.

Anyway, @ OP: Thanks for posting this, I don't feel so alone in my hens not laying. I need mine to earn their keep too and I was feeling like I must be doing something wrong in taking care of them. :\ Anyway, thank you!!!

 

[gilcamp4]

I also asked about the salt thing, also I have 15 hens that should be laying, I get 4 to 5 a day then 2 there is no reg on it there are 6 of them just came to age 25 weeks this fri, waiting for them to lay then I have 15 sex licks 8 rsl and 7bsl that will be 24 week the end of the mth, then I have 5 that will be of laying age in dec, we are doing a move also, they are in the screen house with a small run for now so we can work in coop without worrying about them getting out, not sure how we are going to change it, its a camper that we had fixed up for a coop last year as the coop we had was only for 5 chickens.

 

[TeaChick]

IDK.
I'll search it on the site and see what I come up with.

 

[TeaChick]

I also asked about the salt thing, also I have 15 hens that should be laying, I get 4 to 5 a day then 2 there is no reg on it there are 6 of them just came to age 25 weeks this fri, waiting for them to lay then I have 15 sex licks 8 rsl and 7bsl that will be 24 week the end of the mth, then I have 5 that will be of laying age in dec, we are doing a move also, they are in the screen house with a small run for now so we can work in coop without worrying about them getting out, not sure how we are going to change it, its a camper that we had fixed up for a coop last year as the coop we had was only for 5 chickens.

Here is a thread about salt it's in another forum on BYC. Apparently there's some debate about whether chickens need salt, need extra salt (beyond what's in their feed), or should have "free choice" of salt (not added to food or water, I guess a salt-lick for chickens).
<do chickens LICK?> just wondering.
anyway, this is what I found that wasn't about salt lake, etc. KWIM?

 

[chickenboy190]

My 3 hens stopped laying and my new ISA Browns have'n laid also! I have 16 chickens i total and they are coasting me a lot of money :/

 

[SherrKa]

My chickens haven't been laying well for a long time now. I have 13 girls of different breeds and all but the cochins have been fairly good layers especially the easter eggers as some people call them. But even in the summer months some days, no eggs and at the most 4 and now I am down to 1 or 2 every few days. I have tried everything. But the post about the extra types of food diluting the protein they receive from the laying mash rang a bell and seems to make sense to me. I have been trying different grains trying to get away from anything with GMO or chemicals and I think I have created the problem. So I am going to try just feeding the laying mash for a while and the salt thing and see what happens. I'll let you know how it comes out, but like one person said, I'm spending a lot of money on feed to get NO eggs! If I didn't love them so, I'd be eating dumplin's by now!! lol

 

[cafarmgirl]

You always need to be very careful when adding anything, like salt, to chickens diet. Bird's in general are sensitive to too much salt. I have always believed that the best thing for chickens is to eat mostly a good commercial layer feed that is balanced to meet their specific nutritional needs and then include a few healthy extras like greens/vegetable, meal worms, etc. in addition to their pasture.

 

[Renee P]

We are experiencing the same issue. About a month ago we introduced 4 new Australorp into the 7 mixed breed hen coop (who are 1 year and 3 months old). Before introduction each group was housed next to each other and had the chance to free range in the yard together. The Australorp are the same size as the hens now and are 6 months old. They have an enclosed coop and run and just recently I've let them free range occasionally when I'm home during the day just to see if it would help them start laying again. They are still hanging out separately as groups but occasionally run together around the yard.

The hens were molting and stopped laying, but haven't started (2 eggs in three weeks). The Australorp have laid just a few eggs in the new coop but have also stopped in the last week. We have a light in the coop, as it's getting darker and they are fed scratch, feed, and special greens which has not changed from when they were laying together in the coop.

They all look very beautiful with nice thick feathers. My husband of course has now determined that each egg is worth $20.00 or more. It's his running commentary because I have 11 pet chickens without eggs. They all were raised in my office for the first 4 weeks and had lots of socialization. Our farming friends get lots of mileage out of that and say they are just spoilt. Maybe that's it..... He says they live in cluckingham palace which is appropriate in my world. Any other ideas than what has been discussed would be very welcome.


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[usanewfie]

We are in the same situation. I've been getting 6 eggs a day like clockwork from my 9 hens for the past two years, and then suddenly we get one a day (started around a week ago). Last winter, they slowed a little but still 3-4 a day. I think part of it is broodiness as we found one girl outside the coop at night sitting on an egg she layed in the bushes. To ensure they layed in the coop, I locked them in their coop/run for a day... when we checked on them this evening, they were eating the one egg that was laid! At least I know they are not laying elsewhere, but I can't leave them locked up due to them going zombie-chicken on my eggs! (Halloween chicken humor). I like them free-ranging around the veggie garden anyway....

Here's my related question - I'm hesitant to introduce artificial light to the coop because I don't want to wear them out or mess with their natural rhythms too much. Is there any data on whether keeping the coop lit with artificial light in the colder months causes any health issues/stress on them?