Hens Not Laying

[HensandBees]

Hi I have six hens and one rooster ranging from 1 to 3 years. About three weeks ago they finished molting and starting laying again. I was getting 3 to 5 eggs a day. Now they have all stopped laying completly. I have not had a single egg for over a week. everyone looks heathly. They have the option to go out although we have some snoe on the ground and mostly they stay in. Doea anyone have any ideas?

I really enjoy your site and have gotten lots of great information. Thanks

 

[eggchel]

If they weather is cold and they have been staying inside where it is darker, that could affect their laying. As long as they dont seem sick, I wouldnt worry about it, just give them time, or add a light to extend daylight by about 2 hours a day.

And, welcome to the BackyardChickens website and forums!!



chel

 

[jimnjay]

My whole flock is laying erratically, some are recently out of molt some are still in molt. The weather is freezing one day and warm the next. Daylight hours are short and that will affect your laying. Check for mites or anyother pest and then wait for things to pick up. I think many of us are in the same boat. At least I am getting enough eggs so I don't have to buy store bought eggs this year.
Good Luck and hopefully this week you will see some eggs again.

Jaynie, Bryant Alabama

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Hmmm. I have one girl who is doing something similar.

Her last day of laying before her molt was Nov. 7th, then she started molting on Nov. 16th, and started laying again on Dec. 30th. I keep an egg calendar, so it's fairly easy to look at the patterns of each egg layer. Here's what Elsie (an EE) did:

Before Molt:
Last week of lay: 2 eggs
2nd to last week of lay: 4 eggs
Working backwards: 5, 5, 6, 5, 7, 7, 6, 6, 7.

(There were 52 days without laying during molt.)

So, basically she was laying at least 5 eggs a week, only two weeks prior to stopping her laying. However, while it appears that she's been very consistent since laying again, she's actually beginning a decline in laying.

After Molt:
First week of lay: 5
Next 3 weeks: 5, 5, 5
5th week: 4

While that looks fairly consistent, what shows up is what appears to be a beginning of a decline in laying:

Days in a row for laying eggs:
2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1

Now, there's still one other factor here. Today is the same daylight hours (10:37) as her last date of lay (Nov. 7th) before her molt. Since she is only 10 months old, I don't have a comparison for winter laying. What will be interesting to note is whether things start picking up after today and in the following weeks with the longer daytime hours.

Shelly

 

[poppycat]

I would start looking for a hidden nest. Seems unlikely in the snow but if everything else is ok...

 

[HensandBees]

I starting keeping the lights on to the extend the day. Hopefully this will make a difference. I looked around for a hidden nest. No luck yet but I like this idea. We just had another 4inches on snow here in maine so it was pretty easy to see that no one was heading out door. Thanks for all the help