Chickens just abruptly stopped laying

[NewChickMomma6]

I am a new chicken mother. 3 (wyandotte, cuckoo maran and Easter egger), of my 5 nine month old hens were laying very consistently and just over the past week no one has layed any eggs. They are in an enclosed run with a built in coop. They don’t appear to be molting. They are eating and drinking. I give occasional veggie scraps in the afternoon. The weather has been all over the place, but it has been consistently all over the place the last two months. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[hysop]

What are you feeding them and do you free feed them?

 

[ChickNanny13]

It's very likely the weather conditions and the molting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The most common cause of hens to stop laying is the molt. I know you said you don't think they are molting, but are you seeing extra feathers flying around. You can't always tell by looking at them, loose feathers flying around is a good indication.

Another common cause is that they are hiding a nest on you. They don't have to free range to hide a nest, they can be really sneaky about that, even in the coop or a run.

Many critters will eat eggs but most will leave some clues behind, either egg shell fragments or a wet soppy mess. Here in North America the critters that typically don't leave clues are snakes, canines, or humans. Even if you are somewhere warm snakes don't visit every day. They eat some eggs, disappear for a few days to digest them, then come back for more so it doesn't sound like a snake. A fox or coyote would probably be more interested in your chickens than the eggs but does a dog have access? A dog can eat eggs but leave the chickens alone. A human doesn't necessarily mean a thief or stranger, some practical jokers think this type of thing is funny.

Severe weather can affect their laying but usually not that many for that long. It's unlikely all would stop for a week because of weather, especially when changing weather hasn't been that strange.

A stressful event can stop them from laying for a bit. A stressful event could be a predator attack, running out of water for a time period (a full day maybe), a change of lighting conditions (light is very important to them laying, especially a change in length of the daylight), a change to the pecking order maybe caused by adding or subtracting flock members, moving them to a new location, or a change in living conditions like maybe new roosts or remodeling the coop. A full week for this stuff is kind of stretching it unless the stress kicks them into a molt, but you wanted suggestions.

You are looking at them so your guess will be a lot better than mine. For most of these patience might be your friend but I'd look a bit for a hidden nest. That happens more often than you'd think. And think about lights. Has a street light or security light gone out lately?

 

[Mrs. K]

Another common cause is that they are hiding a nest on you. They don't have to free range to hide a nest, they can be really sneaky about that, even in the coop or a run.

Whenever I have had a sudden and pretty complete loss of eggs... it has always been a hidden nest, and they can be very clever, very sneaky.

Go down and spend a morning with them, just watching them, and seeing. Mine will lay in the same old place, often favoring a nest... and then for what seems to be no reason, find something else.

Mrs K