Do chickens stop laying in the heat?

[TnChickHen]

I've had absolutely no eggs since 2 july!! I have 2 BOs that SHOULD have started to lay, but it's been in the high 90s with 100% humidity. My 1 RIR and Standard Cochin have all but stopped since the 2nd. Not sure what to do..... What's the best way to cool them down? Bring them all inside for a bit?? leave the hose on mist all day??? I don't have fans

 

[madavis25]

I suspect it also has something to do with the days starting to get shorter. My chickens slowed down the last week of June and that has continued. So far, we have not had any days hit 90deg and only a couple hit 80.

After the winter solstice, their laying picked up dramatically, even though the number of hours of daylight was still low

 

[ronikins]

What's funny is, my neighbor kept saying last summer that our hens would stop or slow down with laying in the winter. Especially when it's the coldest. But they NEVER slowed down in the least. We were getting 16 or more eggs from 20 hens a day. Now that we've been in steady mid 90's for several weeks, they've slowed down to about 3-5 a day out of 14 laying hens.

 

[ButtersMama]

Happy Happy Day here! We have our very first EGG! Our chickens are 20 weeks and 4 days old. We have 5 chickens. 2 - New Hampshire Red, 2 Black Sexlinks and one White Tetra (looks like a white leghorn)....we can't figure out who laid it

I was so surprised to see it in the nesting box. I read here that you have to train them with golf balls...I had them on my list.

My chickens also go in the chicken coop at dusk and all line up on the roosting bar.

Are my chickens EXCEPTIONALLY SMART?????

 

[Delmar]

I have a tarp over the tractor but it still got really hot in there. I tried to position the tractor so that it was under a shade tree part of the day but as the Sun moved to the West they still got to hot before I got off work. I decided to let them free range all day. and put water dishes and a nesting box in the grove of trees but I got almost no eggs for the better part of a week. I thought they were laying the eggs elsewhere but I came to the conclusion that they just were not eating enough to lay.

I started feeding them under the grove of trees as well and egg production picked right back up! I have gotten 14 eggs from 5 girls over the last 3 days even though it is still STINKING HOT!

 

[gavinandallison]

Ours are laying sporadically, somedays we get a batch, other times nothing....... Got me worried too..................

 

[groundpecker]

Yes, they can stop laying. My RIR and RSL breeds lay infrequently during hot weather.

 

[Delmar]

So has anyone else here tried putting the feed and water in a very shady place, like under the bushes? My egg production came back right away and is still going strong even though it is still stinking hot!

 

[Echobabe]

Delmar,
Thanks--going to give this idea a try--I've had water for them in the shade but not any layer crumbles. Sounds like a good idea, since they aren't doing much ranging in this heat.

 

[CaroleW]

I get average 4 eggs a day from my 7 hens that just started laying in June. I think one Black Star is not laying at all (she is probably deaf so may have other issues too, I guess). So 4 eggs out of 6 or 7 layers is pretty good for young hens in the middle of summer in AZ where is has been over 100 nearly the whole time since I got them in May.

They are also getting used to different housing and trying to integrate two flocks into one. So multiple stresses and still laying well- better than I expected!

They have plenty of shade and ice blocks in the water with ACV some days, plenty of ventilation, free range a few hours a day, feed layer pellets or crumbles soaked in water or a little kefir and added cat food on occasion to help with feather picking, misters on when it is not monsoon season, treats include cold fruit- bananas, melon, and leftovers.

And No scratch since I hear it is a hot food. (Even though I notice corn is the first ingredient in my layer pellets- don't know if I can find anything without it in it).