Help! 6 month old hens stopped laying

[newbiefarmgirl]

My daughter is raising a flock of Easter Eggers (5 hens and a rooster) in a mobile coop. Since they were about 18 weeks old, they've been really good egg layers, averaging 3 eggs a day. Suddenly, they all stopped laying. It has been eight days, and she hasn't gotten a single egg. We can't figure out what's wrong. We buy an organic feed from a local farmer who grows and mixes everything on site. I personally have 13 chickens who eat the same feed, and none of mine have slowed down their egg production. We haven't even opened new bags of feed since this started. The chicks were hatched March 8, so they're almost 6 months old.

 

[nuthatched]

Several things stand out to me.
Most birds don't lay until 5 months and they never start at 12 weeks. Could your daughter have had them since they were 12 weeks? Can you ask her how old they were when she hot them and how old they are now?
What is the nutrition content of the feed? Most home mixed feeds are lackluster in the nutrition department, lack of nutrition causes no eggs.
If they're older, they could be molting or taking a break with the heat.

 

[newbiefarmgirl]

Several things stand out to me.
Most birds don't lay until 5 months and they never start at 12 weeks. Could your daughter have had them since they were 12 weeks? Can you ask her how old they were when she hot them and how old they are now?
What is the nutrition content of the feed? Most home mixed feeds are lackluster in the nutrition department, lack of nutrition causes no eggs.
If they're older, they could be molting or taking a break with the heat.

I'm sorry. That 12 was a typo. It should have been 18 weeks. I fixed the original post.
My daughter lives with me (she's 10 We got the chicks all together in the mail when they were just a couple days old. They're just about 6 months old now (hatched March 8)
We scoop our feed from the same bin, and like I said, my hens haven't slowed their production one bit. The only major difference between the 2 groups is that mine free range while hers get moved around the pasture in a mobile coop.
I thought about molting, but wouldn't they be too young to do that, and would they all start at the same time?

 

[Kiki]

Are you sure something isn't getting in an eating the eggs?
Pictures of her tractor coop please?

 

[newbiefarmgirl]

Are you sure something isn't getting in an eating the eggs?
Pictures of her tractor coop please?

I don't have a picture of it, but it is very similar to this, except that the nesting boxes are inside the coop, not jutted out, and the human door is on the end, not the side. She closes up the coop every night and has a latched door for the inside part. The human door also gets latched with a tension latch, so raccoons shouldn't be able to get in. There's no evidence of anything digging under.
I'm beginning to wonder if they're eating them?

 

[Kiki]

I don't have a picture of it, but it is very similar to this, except that the nesting boxes are inside the coop, not jutted out, and the human door is on the end, not the side. She closes up the coop every night and has a latched door for the inside part. The human door also gets latched with a tension latch, so raccoons shouldn't be able to get in. There's no evidence of anything digging under.
I'm beginning to wonder if they're eating them?

Can snakes or rats get in?

Are there dogs or other animals that could be harassing them?

Can you go out and take a picture of your coop?

 

[newbiefarmgirl]

I suppose a very determined rat or snake could get into the bottom half of the tractor if they went under, but definitely not into the top half where their boxes are. Sorry, but I can't get a picture at this point. No, we are pretty rural, so I don't think any other animals are harassing them to the point of not laying.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

could you borrow a trail cam and see if you can see anyone laying over a couple days? may solve the mystery

 

[newbiefarmgirl]

could you borrow a trail cam and see if you can see anyone laying over a couple days? may solve the mystery

Good idea! I may be able to

 

[MissJulesy]

I just had this happen after adding 4 new girls back in spring. They were all mostly laying with my other 4,8 chickens in total with 5-7 eggs daily then poof, only 2 are latin now. One started molting and another one started sounding like a rooster!!! I think we have a rooster so either he is causing them all stress or the molting of just one is stressing them all out. Might be you have a rooster in the mix who hasn't shown his voice yet??