8 month old hens have almost completely stopped laying. Help!

[Skyleen13]

I live in Vancouver, Washington. I have 10 hens. All of them have been laying reliably for the last 2 months or so. For the last month & a half all of them have been laying big beautiful eggs. We’ve gotten between 8-12 eggs a day. We where right in the middle of all the smoke from the forest fires & the last couple days have been rainy & chilly. Now the last 3 days we’ve only gotten 2-3 eggs from our hens. None of them are molting. Their still eating & drinking plenty. I don’t know what’s going on. I expected them to slow down laying eggs when the temp dropped but for them to drop egg production so fast & so extreme scares me. What can I do to help them? Could they be sick?

 

[CluckerFamily]

When I have a predator in the area or any thing that stresses the flock out, they will stop laying no matter their age and it may take 2-3 weeks before they start laying again.

 

[Skyleen13]

When I have a predator in the area or any thing that stresses the flock out, they will stop laying no matter their age and it may take 2-3 weeks before they start laying again.

I haven’t seen any evidence of a predator around the coop.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I haven’t seen any evidence of a predator around the coop.

But they may have been stressed by the fires. It may take some weeks for them to be back to normal.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I live in Vancouver, Washington. I have 10 hens. All of them have been laying reliably for the last 2 months or so. For the last month & a half all of them have been laying big beautiful eggs. We’ve gotten between 8-12 eggs a day. We where right in the middle of all the smoke from the forest fires & the last couple days have been rainy & chilly. Now the last 3 days we’ve only gotten 2-3 eggs from our hens. None of them are molting. Their still eating & drinking plenty. I don’t know what’s going on. I expected them to slow down laying eggs when the temp dropped but for them to drop egg production so fast & so extreme scares me. What can I do to help them? Could they be sick?

I think the smoke is the culprit. Believe it or not chickens are very sensitive to changes due to fire. A fire just raged through our area (our home was spared, and the chickens too) and my hens are not laying either. Out of 35 laying hens I am only getting 2 to 4 eggs a day. The day we evacuated the chickens knew something was up before I did. They acted different and were standing in the open, not under the oak trees, which they do not normally do. So all that just to say that I feel it's the smoke, not to mention fall is here and it's almost molting time. I'm giving my chickens more protein by way of scrambled eggs, and chick finisher 24% to support a healthy diet. If they are eating, drinking and pooping normally, they are ok. The smoke freaked them out and the sudden weather change too. Support with good diet, maybe spike their water with vitamins once a month and they will recover!

 

[Skyleen13]

I think the smoke is the culprit. Believe it or not chickens are very sensitive to changes due to fire. A fire just raged through our area (our home was spared, and the chickens too) and my hens are not laying either. Out of 35 laying hens I am only getting 2 to 4 eggs a day. The day we evacuated the chickens knew something was up before I did. They acted different and were standing in the open, not under the oak trees, which they do not normally do. So all that just to say that I feel it's the smoke, not to mention fall is here and it's almost molting time. I'm giving my chickens more protein by way of scrambled eggs, and chick finisher 24% to support a healthy diet. If they are eating, drinking and pooping normally, they are ok. The smoke freaked them out and the sudden weather change too. Support with good diet, maybe spike their water with vitamins once a month and they will recover!

Thank you! It’s very reassuring that that’s what’s happening. It’s sad but I can treat it.