Chickens stopped laying?

[Ekagj]

We currently have 7 laying hens. For a month and a half we were getting 5-6 every day. Now the past 3 weeks we are lucky to get 2-3! We give them laying mash and some scratch feed in the mornings and grits with sea salt and veggies at night. The first week we thought it was because of the weather being bipolar and now the weather has been pretty nice the past 2 weeks. Any ideas on why chickens just stop laying after having such good amounts?

 

[Ekagj]

I've seen a couple things on the cayenne pepper, but my only problem is that gonna screw up my pullets that are not at laying age yet? They are due to start laying in about 2-3 weeks and two not for another month after.

 

[sarahkatie]

I am having the same exact problem here too.... My single whiteegglayer hasn't given me an egg in a whole week.... I was at 3-5 eggs a day from 5 hens and now I'm down to 1-3, and still no white eggs.... The all look sure healthy though and get oyster shell free feed, and water w/acc and vitamins as well as boss every couple of days.... Hopefully someone has some insight....

Eta: all my girls are roughly 1yr old....

 

[Rowdie]

The things that come to my mind are, enough food, enough water, enough daylight, not too hot, trama of some sort (attacked by predator, moved). Also they may have found their own nest.

I never recall having hens try to hatch eggs in the nesting boxes. They always found another spot. They lay a few eggs before setting on them. Not sure if your set up allows for such a thing, but if it does, it's something to check.

This grit with sea salt could be an issue...


Salt

Although the salt requirement of birds is relatively low, adequate levels are essential, and excessive amounts are highly toxic and reduce egg production. Birds require a sensitive balancebetween necessary and toxic levels of salt. .
Excess dietary salt intake readily causes wet droppings and wet litter. Several feed ingredients,such as fish meal, corn gluten meal, meat meal, whey and sunflower meal contain high levelsof sodium. When such ingredients are used, the level of supplemental salt (NaCl) in the dietmust be reduced.

In addition to the wet droppings If they're getting too much salt you might also notice they'll eat less.

 

[sarahkatie]

Haha! My white egg layer(Sicilian buttercup) FINALLY have me another egg.... Last one was April 1st.... The 10wks prior I had been getting 4 eggs a wk from her... She's my only white egg layer so at least I Know when she lays, lol....

 

[Hope49]

We are having the same mystery here. Just got back from a 2 wk cruise, but we had pet sitters 3x daily plus overnights, for chickens and dogs. NOT ONE EGG has been laid and we can verify it has been 5 days for sure. We have 10 chickens, plenty of room, big house, all healthy. Good food, grit, electrolytes in their water during that bad heat wave we left in, but we did have 2 who died the week before we left for reasons unknown. Any ideas? They are 1 yr old and have been laying about 6 eggs a day...all different breeds, welsommer, marans, wyandotte, brahma, americauna, australorp, jersey giant, white rhodie, buckeye.

All leads will be considered; we love our little ladies.

One thing I'm confused about. The electrolytes were in a tupperware container with instructions of how to add a bit to the water. Now they are in a wet mess in the container. How did that happen? Could they have added too much, and could that continue to be a problem since we have a continuous flow water system direct from the tap?

 

[mrsc1951]

I'm also having the same issues. My girls - five are two years old and two are about 1 1/2 had been giving me 5-6 eggs a day then it went to 2-3. My big old Cochin/SLW mix is in full molt so I'm sure that's her thing but the others don't seem to be molting yet. Isn't it a bit early for molt? It has been unusually hot here but they have plenty of shade, fans in the coops and I keep a patch of dirt nice and wet for them to lay down in. They seem to be eating and drinking normally. Maybe just the heat. IDK.