Chickens basically not laying eggs.

[Andkingquail]

Hello, I own 13 chickens that are all various breeds they are 9 months old they started laying eggs in late summer fairly consistently that lasted for a few weeks then, closer to fall they completely stopped laying all of them after 1 day stopped laying that lasted for a little over a month then some of them started laying agian but very sparcely then closer to October a lot of them started to molt!! I thought chickens started molting when their at least 1 year old but mine started molting very early and i have no idea why now some of them stopped molting but no eggs not a single egg the past two months.
I feed them a layer feed good quality diet and they free range does any one have any idea why they stopped laying and why they molted so early?
Thank you for any resposes!

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

The shorter days means less eggs. And chickens molt towards the end of the year. Mine started late August early September. Dont worry. I dont supplement lighting and my flock of 9 im getting one egg every few days. Most are finishing molting and one hen hasnt layed all year.

 

[Sparrows]

It's probably the shorter days, my girls are laying less for me even with the supplement lighting, and they are 7 months old

 

[WingItRanch]

You mention free ranging... any chance there is a hidden nest somewhere?

It is surprising your pullets all molted their first year. I know it's not a 100% guarantee they'll skip molting their first fall but it seems odd that so many of yours molted at only 9 months old.

 

[Andkingquail]

You mention free ranging... any chance there is a hidden nest somewhere?

It is surprising your pullets all molted their first year. I know it's not a 100% guarantee they'll skip molting their first fall but it seems odd that so many of yours molted at only 9 months old.

Im pretty sure there isn't a hidden nest because they have a pen that they are in when I dont ant them to free range. So i placed them in the pen for a week without letting them free range just so I could be sure there isn't a hidden nest and they never layed any eggs when they were in the pen which means they arent laying at all. And yes, it's really odd to me that most of them molted so early and at the same time.

 

[aart]

Some can have a partial molt the first fall/winter.
They may not lose many feathers but will stop laying.

 

[BigFuzzball]

Mine are 5+ yrs old, moult from Sept onwards and I've only had 4 eggs since Sept. They're fed good layers pellets, a cracked corn mix and get treats plus some eggshell and conditioner supplements periodically. These are getting what my hens have had for the 15yrs I've been keeping chickens but previous flocks have kept laying - could this be just the breed of birds (Wellsummer & Cream Legbar) ??

 

[Dynamissa]

I have one girl, an easter egger with a large comb who stopped laying about a week ago and who seemed very sluggish and wasn't eating much in the cold snap up here in upstate NY... farm vet suggested we take her inside. I was seeing a few feathers in the run/in her cage in the garage. I'm wondering if she's molting... but she wont reliably eat eggs.. just a little. And she had one bit of sardines one day and decided she didn't like them today.

She'll not turn down Black Soldier Fly larvae but I don't know how much she should have... she sort of eats her crumble... ... a bit through eating it when it's wet but it's so cold the stuff freezes in the run now. but seems to mostly want it through scratching? But there sint' much on the ground... I definitely feel like she's not getting enough, hasn't been going to bed with a full crop, etc.

She's only 8-9 months though.. so I'm confused / worried too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have one girl, an easter egger with a large comb who stopped laying about a week ago and who seemed very sluggish and wasn't eating much in the cold snap up here in upstate NY... farm vet suggested we take her inside. I was seeing a few feathers in the run/in her cage in the garage. I'm wondering if she's molting... but she wont reliably eat eggs.. just a little. And she had one bit of sardines one day and decided she didn't like them today.

She'll not turn down Black Soldier Fly larvae but I don't know how much she should have... she sort of eats her crumble... ... a bit through eating it when it's wet but it's so cold the stuff freezes in the run now. but seems to mostly want it through scratching? But there sint' much on the ground... I definitely feel like she's not getting enough, hasn't been going to bed with a full crop, etc.

She's only 8-9 months though.. so I'm confused / worried too.

Hard to tell but given the description is my guess is she's molting and not feeling well because of it, which would explain why she's off feed and lethargic.

I personally would not have brought her in, as isolation can affect them as well and cause them not to eat (plus you may need to re-acclimate her to outside temperatures). How long as she been inside? Has she gone out at all?

 

[Dynamissa]

Hard to tell but given the description is my guess is she's molting and not feeling well because of it, which would explain why she's off feed and lethargic.

I personally would not have brought her in, as isolation can affect them as well and cause them not to eat (plus you may need to re-acclimate her to outside temperatures). How long as she been inside? Has she gone out at all?

36 hours in the garage at 46-50, she hasn’t been back out. It’s been in the single digits (-4 today).

Our temps are going to be pretty steady 20-30 tomorrow and highs of high 20s and up to mid 40s for the next week and a half.

Vet said to put her in the coop While they’re roosting. I’m assuming she’ll be warm enough along with them from that, and hopefully carry on? We’ve had temps drop 20-30 degrees suddenly within the last couple Of weeks before and she’s been okay…

She’s either rock bottom or just above it on the pecking order and the head pullet scares her away from food just by approaching a lot of the time. head pullet is a big bruiser of an SLW and I’ve put up vision blockers but she *patrols* the food areas.

Nugget (molty pullet) had some food and normal poops since we brought her in, just not what I’m used to seeing when she was at the top of her games, though she eats black
Soldier fly larva like a damn fool.