all birds stopped laying in Summer

[rogerschickens]

we can't figure out why our whole flock has stopped laying in the middle of the summer.
We have 3 year old production reds, 1 year old bantees and some other large red hens and 3 year old pekin ducks.
about 2 weeks ago the egg production suddenly dwindled from great to nothing.
our ducks are in a completely separate pen. we've been raising chicken for several years now and haven't had this problem before.
All our birds went through the molting stage last winter. The temperature has only been in the 80s and 90s. There's no sign of animals getting in. The only thing we can guess is that our teenage son didn't feed them well while we were gone for a week. Or there was a bad run of chicken food. But it seems odd that in such a mixed flock, of about 30, not a bird is laying. No shells. Nothing. We've checked everywhere.
They have water and food (Orscheln layer crumbles and pellets) all day.

Any Ideas?

 

[gtaus]

...The only thing we can guess is that our teenage son didn't feed them well while we were gone for a week...

Ouch, I used to be a teenage son, but I never had the responsibility for caring for livestock on my own for any period of time. Even if your son didn't feed them "well", I am guessing he did feed them as you did not mention any loss of birds. You would think that the hens would have recovered when you got back. Very strange that ALL birds stopped laying. I can't wait to hear about possible reasons for this situation. Hope they start laying again soon.

 

[Raptorchick]

Ok, not to jump onto your thread, but I literally just logged on to start a thread about the same thing ! Can I stick mine here too
But seriously....... I have four 4-year old Buff Orpington hens. In the spring, even just three weeks ago, I was getting one egg from each of them daily.
Not as many girls as yours, Rogerschickens, but what in the heybales...
I have about 9 up-and-coming pullets that are four to five months old, and I expect to start laying in the next monthish. When I brought the pullets into the coop with hens, I moved roosters around, so that they wouldn't be beat up by my bigger roos. I swapped the normal two roos (CCL and RIR mix) for two of my older serama roos (tiny old men). I swapped the roosters about a month ago.
I haven't changed feed. I went on vacation for a week, but, I'm pretty sure they were fed regularly.
The rooster run goes alongside the hens run, so everybody can still see each other. Is it possible that they stopped laying because of stress, due to new roosters and new youngsters?? My other two hens (both one year old, an Ayam Cemani and a CCL) are still laying, one a day.
If it is a stress thing, will they recover in a week? (will it take longer?) Or, should I bring back the original roosters? I felt bad leaving the younger pullets to the whims of the bigger, younger guys lol....

Or, as Rogershickens said, is egg laying a feeding-problem? Should I switch to a higher protein, or maybe more calcium, diet?

 

[aart]

The only thing we can guess is that our teenage son didn't feed them well while we were gone for a week.

That could do it....or running out of water for even a few hours can stop laying for days.
Do you free range?
They may have found a 'better' spot to lay.

 

[aart]

Ok, not to jump onto your thread, but I literally just logged on to start a thread about the same thing ! Can I stick mine here too

Well, it's more polite and less confusing if you start a new thread

 

[HH.Wench]

Mine stopped laying about 3 weeks ago also. I'm lucky to get 2 eggs per week out of 4 hens right now. Between that and their long dormancy over winter, i'm looking at new breeds. These Lavender Ameraucaunas arent producing well at all for me at around 2 years old.