CONFUSED...Sudden stop in egg laying???

[kylieschooks]

Hi there,

My chickens have stopped laying, I understand that it's winter and shorter days and stuff, but my chickens are only 7-8 months old and have only been laying for 6 weekS.

Is it normal for young hens to only lay for that time and then stop???

Also I have an 18 month old who just came out of her molt and started to lay again for about 4 weeks, now she has suddenly stopped too???

None of the pullets have been through the molt yet either.

I'm confused, please help

 

[HEChicken]

What breed are they? Some breeds are much more finicky about laying than others and if you have one of those, they may have stopped due to the shorter days.

 

[kylieschooks]

They are speckeldy and rhode rocks? I just didn't think pullets would stop laying after only a few weeks of starting?

Thanks

 

[Farmer Viola]

Can you look up the sunrise and sunset time in your area? I believe they will stop laying when they start getting less than 12hrs of light/day... some people put a light in their run at 4-5am to help with this.

Past that.. my girls stopped laying when they had a mite infestation. Have you looked closely around their vents for mites? they are very small!