HELP!! My chickens have stopped laying!!

[beckycrouch5115]

I have 9 hens altogether, 8 RIR and 1 Leghorn. They have a nice safe coop, they have clean water, I give them the same laying pellets I have always given them mixed with hen scratch, I have oyster shells laid out for them for whenever they want it. They all look healthy to me, I see no issues with them acting funny or looking sick. They eat fine and they do get let out every evening to venture out in the backyard and peck around the grass. I give them some scraps but not much. What can be going on? I get maybe 1 egg a day, I haven't gotten an egg from the leghorn in probably 5 months. I have searched the yard to see if by any chance they are laying them there the few hours they are out a day, but haven't found any. What can I do to help them along? I've seen where some people give ceyenne pepper and yogurt but wasn't sure if that was true or not. Anybody else having problems? any solutions?

 

[Scarlit]

How old are they? Chickens usually have a drastic drop in egg production when they turn 3 or 4 years old. I hear quite a lot of people saying their RIR slow at 2.

 

[beckycrouch5115]

They'll be a year old in April

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Could be they are getting deficient in protein, cutting out the extras or feeding a higher protein feed can help optimize production, layer with its 16% protein is the minimum daily requirement and extra stuff can cut down on protein intake, especially in higher production birds.

Otherwise hens do take breaks, but when it's the whole flock I would suspect them running low on protein, or even running out of water will cause them to stop as well.

 

[aart]

Keep them locked in the coop and run 24/7 for a week or two.
Stop with the scratch grain in the layer feed....you're diluting the already probably low protein in the layer feed.

BUT I'm thinking your birds are closer to 2 than 1 year old from your other thread, asking about a young cockerel in July 2015?
If so, they may have been molting and are not yet back up to speed, especially with the low protein.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1005386/roo-or-hen

 

[et22]

Do they have artificial light?
If so how many hours are they getting a day?