18 month old chickens 2/3 stopped laying-why?

[LancashireRose]

Hi there. I'm a newbie to both this website and to raising chickens. We have had our chickens for 14 months bought at POL. When they began to lay we had lots of eggs but 2 out of 3 have stopped and we concerned that whatever might be happening will affect the third hen to stop laying as well. The first stopped about 3 months ago whilst the second about a week ado. For both their eggs followed the same pattern of becomingly increasingly weak/no shell. First to stop was the White Sussex whilst the second is a Black Rock (the layer is a Black Star and the dominant hen). At one point I thought our WS had sour/impacted crop but I cleared this in a couple of days but she still as VG though this seems to be improving. (We bathed her once a day for a week, now it's been every other day for the past week. To start with I added Epsom Salts to the water but I think this may have been too harsh so changed to malt vinegar. I add Candestan (anti-fungal/thrush cream for vaginal thrush) after each bath. Every other day I spray Daktrarin (anti-fungal spray for athlete's foot). I gave her two rounds of 1/3 of oral anti-fungal/thrush tablet over six days in total.) I consider the hens are well kept housed in Omlet cube coop which is on wheels so raised off the ground. It is cleaned once a week along with their water trough which is, also, off the ground. They have a fenced in area on grass and are moved every 6 weeks or so to access fresh grass. They are fed on high quality chicken food (Free Ranger) with added oven-dried eggshell (their own eggs), poultry spice and Bio-Vit (to help with digestion). Most days they have healthy treats, eg, vegetable peelings (food processed to make it easier for them to eat) (feed in containers), corn/maize (thrown on the ground). Their water is changed morning and evening. ACV is added about once per week plus poultry boost liquid about once a fortnight. They have permanent access to oyster shell/grit mix. Having looked at the reasons for VG I seem to be doing all the right things. Any ideas of what we can do? I don't mind if they no longer are able to lay but don't want them to be poorly and suffering (I've read hens will mask this for survival).

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.
If you live in the northern hemisphere, most likely your hens stopped laying eggs due to the onset of fall and winter. The main cause is loss of daylight hours needed for egg production.
My birds have stopped laying as well, it's normal.

 

[sybonbon]

Molting happens at 18 months. Some lose alot, others only slightly. They need all of their energy to molt and regrow feathers. They can't lay eggs at the same time. Also less light is a factor. They need around 15 hours of light each day starting in the morning. I use a red LED rope light in my coop to keep them safe from fire. It's on a timer. Comes on 3 am and goes off at 6 when the sun comes up.

 

[LancashireRose]

Thanks. Yes, we live in the northern hemisphere - England to be exact. I've heard about the link between daylight and egg production but one didn't lay properly over the summer months. Re: Molting - that's a thought. Fingers crossed this is all that is going on for them! They both seem content. Just need to get the VG sorted for the WS.