Hens not laying with ducks around.

[swtjess]

I'm from Malta
So my hens(15 of them) haven't laid in over 6 months, primarily because of the extreme heat we experienced all through that time.... so I imagine they got lazy and undoubtedly not a time to lay eggs with 40 degrees celcius of heat.

However during this time I decided to leave them running freely with 30 ducks.... as I thought they'd enjoy some fresh air, access to larger water sources, and open area rather than inside the coop in that heat. In my opinion i thought they were happy and I gave them the best comfort I could provide.

However the heat has reduced and temperatures are much more beautiful and perfect for egg laying.... yet there's no sign of eggs anywhere.... and i'm caught in a dilemma whether i should still give them freedom to reduce their stress from being inside all day, or literally only keep them inside perhaps because of the idea that the ducks might be stressing them out and not allowing them to lay eggs.

They are my pets, all my hens are young and healthy and were all laying last year.
P.S..... the ducks are not laying either.... i think the presence of each other is stopping them both from laying.

IM CONFUSED!!!

Please help!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My ducks and chickens are together as well, so I doubt it's that, free ranging hens may sometimes try to make outdoor nests so check around for those. How old are your hens, are they old enough to be molting and are your hens receiving enough protein in their feed to support laying, and free ranging, and of course hot temperatures can halt laying as well as free ranging hens don't lay as much as confined hens.

So after saying all that, if you aren't getting any eggs I'm guessing they are old enough to molt.