Help, Girls have stopped laying

[yellowroseli]

I have 8 layers. They laid good all winter. 2 Silverlaced Wyndottes, 3RR & 3 Buffs. All are aboud 1 yr old.
Food was changed but I have also now changed back to the regular pellets 2 days ago. They seem not too be eating much.
One Buff is sitting in the laying box with NO eggs. She has lost all her underneath feathers. I am worried about them.
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Farm Frenzy]

That buff is broody and wants eggs to sit on. She pulled out all her underneath feathers to keep the eggs warmer...you should give her some.

 

[valentinebaby]

Others more experienced need to weigh in on this, but don't chickens molt at about a year old?

 

[ebonykawai]

Mine are in a mini molt, 2 of these are broody, and I'm down to 4 eggs a day from 10 hens. Nothing to do but wait it out.

 

[yellowroseli]

Thanks for the advice. I am still new at all of this and was worried about my girls. The one that is broody, when will this stop? I have no eggs for her to lay on and no roo to even fertilize anyway.

 

[Cherokee Rose]

I've noticed that changes in the weather can affect egg laying. If nothing else, you could try the cayenne-pepper-in-the-water trick.

 

[Davaroo]

I'd like to suggest you ease up your expectations, a bit. We get so caught up in the "egg a day" measurement, that we forget they are not machines. There are more than a few reasons why hens slow down or cease laying. Some we know, some are only in the mind of the bird. This is why egg laying has always been measured on an annual basis.
For the record, a 200 egg year has long been considered good. 250, excellent.

All hens naturally go through a slow down at 12 months as part of the molt. There are those rare few that lay right on through it, but the majority simply stop while ther bodies work to replenish reserves and grow new feathers.
It used to be that a pullet became a hen when she reached her molt - it was seen as a pivotal point in her life and she was expected to taper off then.

It is also getting hot out, to be combined with the 12 month mark. Summer heat also affects them by slowing them in general, to include laying. In extreme heat, they may cease laying altogether.

All other things being equal, it is likely a combination of the weather and the molt.

Make sure they are clean and free of damp or muck, well fed and kept them as cool as you can make them. Then let Nature take her course.

 

[Robin L]

Davaroo how long does the molt last? Im just wondering

 

[porteryork]

I am in the same boat you are. I got some fertilized eggs from a friend to give to my silly orpington who is just sitting in the nesting box. (I don't have a roo) She actually cooed as I slipped the eggs under her. We will see what I get in 21 days! My other hens aren't laying much either but I think some are molting and some are heat sensitive. I am going to wait it out and see.

 

[debakadeb]

My cochin took quite a while to get through her molt--but then she went broody before the molt. Davaroo, thank you for that information -- very interesting as I'm noticing another one of mine going through a molting period as well.