Hens quit laying ?

[Chicken Chicks]

Hi All,
Just found this forum and i'm excited to talk Chicken !
Sorry if these are repeat questions so please be patient with me. We live in Arizona , i have 24 hens and my egg production has dropped, i have some older hens and 10 around 1 yr old, i was getting at least a dozen or more before summer , but once it hit 110 here alot of them quit laying,which i understand that, but once it got cooler here they started laying again then they just almost stopped, i get 4-6 a day, they free range , but do have nesting boxes in their chicken coop they lay in, i have also noticed alot of feathers laying on the ground,was wondering what's going on with them, thought they would only do that during summer time ? I also noticed their egg shells are thin ? Is there something i could be feeding them, maybe something in their diet ? I have also talked to others here in Arizona that are having the same problem, maybe the crazy weather here ? Can't figure out if it want's to be cold or hot ? Any help i would appreciate ,
Thank you and look forward to hearing from you all

 

[shaggy]

sounds like they might be molting --- they usually molt at 1 year old ... it is expected that they stop laying eggs while they are molting



i'm not an expert on the subject --- mine are only 7 months old

 

[Chicken Chicks]

thats what i was thinking, but i thought that was only in the summer time ?

 

[lauralou]

This is the time of year for molting. They lose their old feathers and grow in beautiful new ones. It's a pretty stressful procedure, so they usually stop laying during the molt. It's perfectly normal.

As far as the thin eggshells, I give my girls oyster shell for extra calcium to keep their eggs nice and hard. I just pour it out on the ground for them. Some folks have a much nicer system than that!

 

[lauralou]

We posted at the same time! LOL

I did have some birds that molted in late summer. And I have some that are molting now. Just depends on the individual hen, I guess.

 

[Chicken Chicks]

I'm Glad to hear that is normal for this time of year, i thought i was doing something wrong, i will try feeding them the shells, i did see them at the feed store,
Thanks for your help !

 

[logan]

yeah molt or just try to put a light in the hen house.

 

[shaggy]

Quote:
extra protein is good for them too

 

[sephiroth]

I feed back crushed egg shells to my chickens for added calcium...

 

[TreeHugger]

I have 3 Wyandottes that started molting a few weeks ago. They haven't been laying for the last few weeks, but they are starting to feather out & are looking better every day.