Chickens completely stopped laying

[Iceman02]

Hello!

I have four 1 year old Silverlaced Wyandottes that have completely stopped laying for about three months.
There was a fox that spooked them and since then have stopped laying. They continue to eat oyster shell and kalmback flock maker 20% protein. Im at a loss on what to do or what the issue may be.

Any thoughts or suggestions or should these birds go to freezer camp?

Thank you!

 

[FrostRanger]

Most birds take a break for the winter. Just be patient, they should be starting again in the coming weeks

 

[Iceman02]

Most birds take a break for the winter. Just be patient, they should be starting again in the coming weeks

Thank you! I wasnt sure if it was normal for them to completely stop lay or just slow down.

 

[JeremyCarlsten]

Hey there — don't give up on them yet! Three months sounds like a long time, but a predator scare can genuinely shut down egg production for a while, especially if it happened during the shorter daylight months. The stress plus the natural winter slowdown is a double whammy.

I've got about a dozen hens and what I've noticed is that once something stresses them out hard — a predator visit, a big storm, whatever — the ones that were already winding down for winter sometimes just… don't start back up until spring daylight really kicks in. With the days getting longer now, I'd honestly give them another few weeks.

A couple things I'd check: Are they molting or did they molt recently? Sometimes a late molt can stack on top of the stress and really extend the break. Also, are you sure they're not hiding eggs somewhere? My free-ranging birds have fooled me more than once.

Your feed sounds solid. The 20% protein is great, especially if they went through a molt. I'd keep doing what you're doing and reassess in mid-March when you've got 12+ hours of daylight. Wyandottes are good layers — I'd be surprised if they don't come back around once the days are long enough.