help my chickens all of a sudden stopped laying eggs

[brybagchicken]

Hi what would make hens all of a sudden stop laying. I was getting 6 to 8 eggs a day with my hens. All of a sudden they stopped laying eggs i got no egg for almost 2 weeks and just recently I started getting only 1 egg. what could have caused this

 

[sourland]

Any change in or shortage of feed and water ? Any predation ? If they are l.5/2 years old they may be taking a normal break in their laying cycle.

 

[poultryprofessor]

There are a lot of potential causes.

How many hens do you have? What breed? Some breeds (and even lines within breeds) are poor layers. Broody hens also won't lay, but I wouldn't expect that to last 2 weeks without you noticing.

Your hens may have stopped laying due to age, poor nutrition, weather, etc. How old are your birds? What are you feeding them? Has it been especially hot? Do they have continuous access to clean water?

Are they confined, or are they free to roam? If they are free to roam, your hens may have found a fun, hidden place to lay their eggs. If they are confined, they may be laying and then eating the eggs. You will usually see signs of this (egg yolk on other eggs or in the nest), but not always.

Is there any possibility an animal (snake, skunk, etc) could be getting to the eggs? You would be surprised by how small of a hole they can fit through and how many eggs they can go through.