Chickens all stopped laying at once

[aggiemae]

we added 4 hens to our flock of three about 3 weeks ago.Two of the new girls aren't laying yet. All was well, 4-5 egg s a day. Then, since about two weeks ago, only two hens are laying. We got 4 eggs in the past 7 days. All our hens are young though one appears to be starting A molt.

Any thoughts as to what may be causing this and what to to to bring on the eggs again? Thanks

 

[Debbie292d]

we added 4 hens to our flock of three about 3 weeks ago.Two of the new girls aren't laying yet. All was well, 4-5 egg s a day. Then, since about two weeks ago, only two hens are laying. We got 4 eggs in the past 7 days. All our hens are young though one appears to be starting A molt.

Any thoughts as to what may be causing this and what to to to bring on the eggs again? Thanks

They are getting layer feed and some oyster shell on the side or some added calcium?

Ours quit, too for a bit last month, but I blamed it on the insufferable heat we had gone through here. They just weren't used to it being in the 90's and 100F, so I couldn't blame them.

A couple of our old ones went into molt, but I have heard of young ones molting too. Usually, it's not until they're over a year old. They won't lay when they're molting.

Other reasons some chickens quit laying for a while besides molting could be stress, weather, being moved, poor diet, parasites, etc.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Adding new birds can be stressful for both the newcomers and existing flock, so that might be part of the reason for the drop.

 

[ChickNanny13]

and "molt season"

 

[aggiemae]

They are getting layer feed and some oyster shell on the side or some added calcium?

Ours quit, too for a bit last month, but I blamed it on the insufferable heat we had gone through here. They just weren't used to it being in the 90's and 100F, so I couldn't blame them.

A couple of our old ones went into molt, but I have heard of young ones molting too. Usually, it's not until they're over a year old. They won't lay when they're molting.

Other reasons some chickens quit laying for a while besides molting could be stress, weather, being moved, poor diet, parasites, etc.

Well, they have good quality feed, clean water and calcium and the weather (here n Oregon) has cooled down. I think I'm going to worm them and see how that goes. Thanks for the response.

 

[aart]

All our hens are young though one appears to be starting A molt.

How young....in months?

It's molting season, they'll often quit laying before you see feathers start to drop.