I have 15 hens just over a year old and I've gotten zero eggs in the last 13 days.They are in a coop with a covered run. It's not entirely due to molting. some are currently molting but some had molted and started laying again. It's not due to day light. I have had lights coming on at 5am since Sept 12th. I switched from pellets to crumbles sometime during the first 2 weeks of october and they are clearly not eating as much. from that time till now 15 hens are still working on the remains of a 50lb bag. (no treats or free ranging since Oct 16th) I introduced some 4-6 week old chicks the week of Oct 9th that I had gotten at a TSC swap. Everyone looked and acted fine and to this day the chicks still look fine and are not sick. 1 of my chickens is sick but I'm not sure if they passed on something to some of the flock or not. Egg production was 6.7/day before I indroduced them. Avg. 6.7 eggs/day from oct 1-9 Avg. 5.6 eggs/day from oct 10-17 Avg. 2 eggs/day from oct 18-21 zero eggs/day from oct 22 to now 1 of the hens looks sick (fluffy and lathargic) but the rest look good for the most part. slower due to cold weather and the ones that are molting are growing feathers. Any Ideas why I am getting zero eggs? I have at least 1 sick hen. what do you think she has and how do I treat it? do you think I should treat the whole flock for anything? Please help Thanks.
your chickens are old and quit laying for the winter.... unless you free range.. and in that case, they've either begun laying somewhere else and hiding them... or somethings getting them.
Are they moulting?.....hens usually stop laying during the moult. You seem to have adequate light.....this shouldn't be the cause. Do I understand that the majority of hens are just over a year old? Hens of this age usually do have a short 'winter shut down'......but it seems far too early for that. My ladies usually only stop for a short time in darkest December. Have you excluded worms and parasites? Check a couple near the vent for lice eggs and look for lice generally. If present....treat them. When were they last wormed? If greater than 3 months ago I'd worm them again. Is their current diet adequate? You mentioned that they did not like their current feed and are no longer free-ranging, so they may be getting deficient. Give them some high protein feed. I'm sure others will think of other potential culprits. Good Luck.
After a full season of laying, hens need rest. Their bodies need rest as does their reproductive systems. Chickens lay eggs for reproduction, not for food, either for themselves or for us, although through domestication and selective breeding, they produce a lot so that we can "steal" their eggs. You also created two big changes in their feed and in introducing new chicks. These things can throw them for awhile. Still.... Yours are at the age when they take this break. They'll moult, some more visibly, some more subtly, but when they recover, they'll begin laying again. Usually that means February as they days lengthen enough for their bodies to know that spring is coming again.
