chickens just stopped laying

[mel81]

my hybrid hens are 10 months old. they have been on layer pellets from the day we got them. i have not changed the make or anything. there have not been any predators. there run and coop have no changed. in fact i am pretty certain everything is the same. they have just stopped laying quite suddenly for the last 3 weeks now. one of them has also lost all feathers from her neck. the other one is losing them all over which is not quite as noticeable. i have read that they do not molt in the first year. any ideas why they have stopped laying and for the feather loss. unfortunately i brought them for eggs and this is no longer happening. they have a good life and as i said above nothing has changed so i am stumped.

 

[Judy]

In spite of what you read, it's pretty clear they are molting. They actually have partial molts well before a year old, and their schedule for the heavier molts is not all that predictable.

 

[BrendaJ]

Lots of things cause them to stop laying. Im not getting very many eggs right now either. I dont know where you live but weather/seasons changes because of lighting , molting, stress and a several others can cause this to happen. Im in Oregon & its the cloudy rainy seasons here plus a couple are molting. Its time to turn on the light for a few hours in the a.m. .

 

[MaddiesMum]

Sounds like a molt! Egg production almost always decreases during a molt, and along with this time of year many of our birds have stopped (or nearly stopped) laying for the winter! Don't worry, this is all normal!