central fl. chickens have not laid in 3 months...wth?

[roll8221]

I have a flock of about 20 standars layers and another of 4 silkies. They are all under 2 years old and are healthy as far as I can tell. They don't show any signs of sickness, they get plenty of food, cracked corn, scraps, water, and a feeder dedicated solely to oyster shell. But still no eggs. And the silkies and standards are. Seperated so even if one flock was sick or if there was a really really hungry egg eating chicken the other flock would still be giving eggs.not sure what to make of it. Gets kind of aggrivating feeding the chickend for three months and not a single egg.when it first started happening I checked the posts and I noticed that some of the other central florida members were having the same problem and suspected it was the heat, but the heat has since dulled and I have not seen anymore cases on here. Especially not for three months. Is anyone else having this problem? Or have any advice? Any would be appreciated.I'm tired of buying eggs with a backyard full of chickens.thanks in advance.

 

[Bantimna]

Thats very sad I don't have any advice for you but are you sure they are under 2 yrs or are they less? Are they older than 2 yrs?

 

[gsim]

Think skunk. They are egg suckers supreme. Does the coop area ever smell skunky? Then again, if you see no shells, think two-legged skunks ! Buy or borrow a game cam to record nocturnal activities.

 

[ams3651]

i havent had any in a long while but mine are molting

 

[PAChickenChick]

I was looking for this very topic. I have two 1yrold chickens who were laying one egg a day each during the summer...and three 7month old chickens that haven't started laying but should have been any day now. I haven't gotten an egg in about 2 months. I hope it's just because they are molting...but I will continue to check out the site.

 

[M To The Maxx]

My question is, have they laid before? If they have are they loosing feathers? I had a hen molt for 4 months. It was not pretty.

 

[write2caroline]

I asked my local feed store lady - I will add shout out because she is really awesome:
Bent Creek Feed off of 103rd in Jacksonville near cecil field - They have the chicken swap meet last Sunday every month.

I asked her if their is some secret handshake or password to make the chickens lay eggs - She laughed and explained that the wierd hot cold weather prevents the chickens from laying - the cold makes thier bodies fluff up and feather and the heat makes them want to molt. She says everyone is saying the same thing in Jacksonville - no eggs and wondering why.

Not sure if weather can alter a ovulating animal but the molting explanation does make me wonder.

Also I have noticed a lot of feather pulling from the girls in with the Rooster but it is not the rooster tugging the feathers. It seems to be the middle girl on the low pecking order girl - So maybe one of the benefits to being higher on the pecking order list???? Not sure - no one is really hurt just a squawk or two once in a while.

As for my Rooster - After a week of practicing - his crow is starting to sound like a rooster and less like tarzan.

Cal
Jax FL