A Halt in Egg Production

[goodag2]

I have 4 10 month old hens that I raised from chicks. We waited that long 6-7 months for them to start laying and sure enough, they did. Now, without incident or warning, 3 of them have stopped laying. All are quite healthy, active and seemingly normal. Feathers are beautiful and full with no sign of an upcoming molt. Any idea what the problem could be or what I should look for? All are common good laying breeds.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Strange things can happen when days get shorter. What makes up all of their feed intake?

 

[goodag2]

Had a problem last October with my laying hens becoming non-laying hens for no obvious reason. I think that they are being affected by the shorter days, like was suggested. A light on a timer seems to have stimulated production and we're back in business now.
Good cluck.

 

[goodag2]

I just found your reply from last October. Not trying to ignore you. I free range my chickies and I also feed them
regular 20% crumbles, a bit of grain for a treat and access to oyster shell and grit. Turned out that shortening days (like you suggested) was the problem and we're all fixed now. Thanks for the tip.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Cool.
From September to December, it's usually the decreasing day length. I just didn't want to overlook other possibilities like nutrition or stress.
Starting today, days are getting longer.