My girls have stopped laying

[smorris2]

I have 3 dominicker hens that are a year old. A week ago I switched them to an unmedicated feed. I was getting about 3 eggs every day and since Friday I've only gotten 2 eggs total. One Saturday and one Sunday. We did have a cool front come through but I'm worried something else is going on

 

[JackNH]

They could be molting, not sure when that starts but normally there egg production stops for a little bit of time as they need lots of protein to grow new feathers. Also, depending on where you are, they need a certain amount of daylight to have high egg production (14 Hours), however, its April so I doubt that is an issue.

 

[PatDreadful]

I am by no means an expert but the cold front may have something to do with it. My girls will stop laying if we go from a week of warm weather to a sudden dip in temperature. They are fine if the change is gradual but they go on strike with a 15-20 degree swing within 24 hours.

 

[dekel18042]

I have 3 dominicker hens that are a year old. A week ago I switched them to an unmedicated feed. I was getting about 3 eggs every day and since Friday I've only gotten 2 eggs total. One Saturday and one Sunday. We did have a cool front come through but I'm worried something else is going on

Could they be going broody or hiding their eggs? (That happens frequently.) Could a predator be stealing their eggs?

 

[smorris2]

I have golf balls in their boxes so I doubt a predator is getting their eggs, I didn't know all 3 could go broody at the same time but I guess it could be that

 

[aart]

I have 3 dominicker hens that are a year old. A week ago I switched them to an unmedicated feed. I was getting about 3 eggs every day and since Friday I've only gotten 2 eggs total. One Saturday and one Sunday. We did have a cool front come through but I'm worried something else is going on

I assume your are in the northern hemisphere(where it's spring) so molting is not a probability?

What exactly are the two feeds ...a change in nutrition can definitely have an affect on production.

 

[smorris2]

I am by no means an expert but the cold front may have something to do with it. My girls will stop laying if we go from a week of warm weather to a sudden dip in temperature. They are fine if the change is gradual but they go on strike with a 15-20 degree swing within 24 hours.

I'm thinking that's what it is

 

[SunHwaKwon]

You say your switched to unmedicated. Are you feeding chick feed? Nothing wrong with that, but you do need to supplement calcium.

 

[smorris2]

I was using a chick feed because I also have 5 pullets that are 10 weeks old but when I learned that wasn't the best for the hens I switched

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Okay just make sure you are offering oyster shell on the side for the hens. They need calcium to make an egg shell, and that could be why they've stopped laying.