All 70 of my chickens not laying

[auroralight]

I have about 70 chickens. They all stopped laying. They are 2 years old were laying steadily and the last 4 days in a row I have had 0 eggs.

Its so weird. They have their nutrition and food needs met. They have a heat lamp and lights on timers in their house. They have a big coup. They have no signs of disease. They are shut in every night and preditors can't get to them.
I've raised chickens my hole life and never had this happen.


Does anyone know what may be going on?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Could be molting, taking a break, weather, predators...

Hard to know.
You have 70 hens? Photos of your hens and set up may be helpful.

 

[aart]

They all stopped laying at the same time just 4 days ago?
What times do the lights go on and off?
What breed of chicken are they?
You've kept chickens in these same conditions for how many years?
Do you rotate young birds in on regular basis?

Oh, and... Welcome to BYC! @auroralight
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Yardmom]

Any thing new that could be stressful? Even predator outside the coop could be stressful. Are you in a winter climate? Are these the first birds you owned and is this the first time eggs have slowed in production? The light might have delayed their first break.

 

[K0k0shka]

Did they take a break when molting last fall? If it's winter now where you are and they are 2 years old, they should've molted in the fall and either slowed down or stopped laying for winter. But if you have artificial light and heat in the coop (not a good idea), then that could've messed up their system. Chickens are very light-dependent for bodily functions, including laying, and take their cues from the amount and length of light in the day. So when you try to trick their bodies with artificial light, and something happens to that light (have you checked that it's not malfunctioning in some way?) they can fall out of the laying pattern and go into a rest period when their bodies sense the reduced (or interrupted) amount of light.

 

[Mygoose]

Had you noticed a decrease in production before then? Are they laying again?

 

[aart]

Had you noticed a decrease in production before then? Are they laying again?

Would be interesting to know, but @auroralight has not been back to the forum since they made their one and only post.

 

[Mygoose]

Had you noticed a decrease in production before then?

I have about 70 chickens. They all stopped laying. They are 2 years old were laying steadily and the last 4 days in a row I have had 0 eggs.

Its so weird. They have their nutrition and food needs met. They have a heat lamp and lights on timers in their house. They have a big coup. They have no signs of disease. They are shut in every night and preditors can't get to them.
I've raised chickens my hole life and never had this happen.


Does anyone know what may be going on?

They’re going on strike XD