Hens haven't laid eggs in months

[The Pekins]

My situation is almost exactly like jflanny's except that I haven't tried the red pepper. I've just put a heat lamp on them and will let you know if that helps! My Silkie and Millie Fluer are still laying. Go figure!

 

[jflanny]

Mine have just started laying again but I am having problems with egg eating! I think I know the culprit(s) RIR hens - but I am looking at smal coops with runs where I can systematically isolate the suspects to make sure. Then I will house them separately since I am a pet lover not a business and the thought of culling any for egg eating doesn't sit for me personally.

I just don't want to spend to much since my lovely husband has already spent at least a couple thousand on my other two coops!

 

[chas84]

Hi jflanny, I'm having the same problem with my two Polish bantam hens not laying. I was getting about 5 eggs a week from them, but then they suddenly stopped. Last egg was laid on 4 Feb so it's been more than a month now. My only guess is that the weather might be affecting them but wheb I think about it it seems like too long a time to not lay.

When searching the net for possible causes, egg eating also came up and I saw a type of nestbox trap which would close when a hen enters. This might be a better option for you than maintaining a number of small coops to try and figure out who's eating eggs.

 

[Parismymare]

I have gotten about 2 dozen eggs since the storm Atlas hit, and 2 days ago I got 12 and yesterday 14. I have around 30 chickens/ducks/geese/turkies and they all just started laying. I know the other people in my poultry club have had the same problem where they just shut down after that huge storm and have just started laying. It was an extreme to go from one egg if i was lucky to a dozen a day! They just need some time to start

 

[Parismymare]

I have a 6yr old Speckaled Sussex who still lays and my americaunas tend to lay best in the winter. The dominique is a good layer and should be laying yet and the sussex is very cold hardy. Those breeds should still be laying i think it is just the strange year.
I would not put pepper in thier feed though, it will taint the eggs for a long time if they would start laying. Potatoe peelings are the same way.

 

[Themehmeh]

My birds had a very difficult molt this winter. Probably due to the very cold weather.
I had a bunch of rubber chickens running around.

Once they grew their feathers in and I still wasn't getting eggs I got suspicious so I kept an eye on them. It turns out while they were molting they figured out how to eat the few eggs they laid and they made it a habit even after production increased.

I just went ahead and butchered them a little earlier than expected, I was going to this year anyway. If you don't plan on going that route there are things you can do to stop it from happening like putting unbreakable ceramic eggs in the coop or filling egg shells with nasty things to convince them eggs taste bad.

 

[jflanny]

Thank you for that suggestion. I will see if I can find something like it online. the weather was definitely the factor in my egg production. They just recently started laying and I am not up to full production but getting there. It has been a very very cold winter for us and I suspect that is part of the reason. I did not put a light in my coop for various reasons (fire, electricity not in coop) but also I wanted the hens to use their body energy to protect them during the cold.

Hope yours get back to laying soon!

 

[jflanny]

I am happy to report my girls have been back to laying full force for a few weeks now. The cold winter must have done it but Spring has sprung!