All hens have stopped laying.

[momaich]

Hi there, I have a small flock, just 5 hens and all of them have stopped laying. I've never had this happen in the summer before. Any suggestions? They eat layer pellets mixed with black sunflower seeds and graze on the lawn for 1 to 2 hours a day. Before this happened, one chicken was broody, but she was still laying about every other day. Her comb began to pale. I "broke her brood" by setting her outside the coop each morning for 2 days and she went back to normal but not laying. Also, my flock is in 2 different coops. I have 3 in one coop and 2 in another. The coop without the broody chicken also stopped laying, but they did have a trauma. Someone (not me

) failed to secure their night coop properly and when I let them out in the morning, there were feathers everywhere indicating someone unwanted had been visiting. I'm trying to visit the coops often during the day to see if an animal is snitching the eggs, but I haven't seen anything so far, no shells, no critters, no eggs, no nothing! I've run a few internet searches, but haven't come up with anything helpful. I'm hoping someone here has an idea for me. One final comment, our weather here has been really nice for summer. We're in eastern PA.

Momaich

 

[Mountain Peeps]

WELCOME TO BYC!!

Is it very hot there? Heat can cause them to stop laying. They could also be molting. Make sure they are kept cool and have plenty of water and calcium.

 

[Judy]

They could still be recovering from whatever scattered feathers, or whatever it is may still be coming around and scaring them. If they get agitated enough, they will stop. Or a snake could be sneaking in and eating your eggs. This is the usual cause of lost eggs around here. You'd be surprised how small a rat snake can eat an egg, or at least I was, no bigger around than my forefinger. Sometimes very hot weather will slow them down, for sure. Or something else, of course!

Here's our checklist thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers/0_20