Hens stopped laying suddenly

[carbon county chicks]

We have 9 hens that have been laying for a long time. Some are 1 1/2 old and some are 1 year old but all have been laying great for a while now. All of the sudden they all stopped laying at the same time. We went from getting 7-8 eggs a day to 0 overnight. We get 1 egg every other day. I know they are supposed to slow down when it gets cold but completely stop?

At first, I thought maybe they were laying and something was getting the eggs or the chickens were eating them or something. So started to listen to see if they make all that noise when they lay and they aren't.

Any ideas would be so helpful!

 

[NonnasBabies]

Are you sure their not starting to molt??

 

[carbon county chicks]

Do they usually molt in the winter?? They could be molting... I have no idea.

 

[mom2jedi]

Quote:
Yes. Winter=molting usually. The shorter days also make a difference. Half of my flock is molting so I'm getting fewer eggs than I was a month ago.

 

[carbon county chicks]

how do I keep them warm when they are loosing their feathers?? won't they die from it being cold?

 

[carrlr]

I recently went from 10-12/day to only 2-4/day. Seemed like it happened overnight. I figured it was the cold and/or the shortened days. Added a light on a timer that gives them 4 extra hours. They are upto giving me ~6 eggs/day. Honestly don't know if it was the light, or the slight warm up we had, or that they are used to the cold already. Eitherway, I'm happy with 6, but 2 was pretty low.