Hens stopped laying?

[Rose the Legbar]

It’s been about a week now that my 1 year old hens have stopped laying. I gave them dewormer about a week ago and I also took up a quarter of their run space and started letting my chicks outside to try and start integrating them. Two days after the dewormer one of my birds gave me a egg but now it has stopped. My legbar hen‘s comb was extremely floppy about 2 weeks ago but now it has shrunk.

When will they start laying again? Could it be a molt? Is it due to stress of the new babies being near them and screaming?

 

[azygous]

Molt is unlikely. Stress or change of any sort can affect laying. Has their poop changed? Eating habits changed? How about any changes in what you're feeding?

 

[Saveria]

Did they just start laying, or did they lay through the winter? Sometimes they will take a break in the summer after laying for the winter.

My egg laying decreased suddenly a couple of years ago. I realized that they wanted to have a waterer outside as well, like they had an instinct to go outside to drink. They would drink from inside, but not enough to get what they needed to lay, I guess. It seems odd, but it worked.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Molt is unlikely. Stress or change of any sort can affect laying. Has their poop changed? Eating habits changed? How about any changes in what you're feeding?

Nothing changed other than adding the chicks beside their run space. They eat a bit less though I think.

Did they just start laying, or did they lay through the winter? Sometimes they will take a break in the summer after laying for the winter.

My egg laying decreased suddenly a couple of years ago. I realized that they wanted to have a waterer outside as well, like they had an instinct to go outside to drink. They would drink from inside, but not enough to get what they needed to lay, I guess. It seems odd, but it worked.

They stopped in the winter and molted. My legbar just started laying every day after around 5 months of no eggs from her and then one egg every other week. My wyandotte laid one egg a day after the cold from winter was over and was continuing to do so until she stopped.

 

[Azulette]

How are your gals doing? I'd make sure they have enough calcium available (and sufficient D3 for absolution), and maybe up the protein (20%+) for a week or so and see if that gets things moving? You could also check for stressors that may be affecting your flock (predators lurking, social dynamics, etc.), or a hidden nest? Maybe too much scratch or snacks that the nutrients aren't balanced in their diet?

I was just reading another post where the person discovered that their waterer was clogged and their flock stopped laying due to a couple of days of dehydration: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/strangest-thing-flock-stopped-laying.1581500/post-26934482

 

[Rose the Legbar]

My girls started up laying again roughly 6 days after this post. I think it was due to me adding in chicks next door and changing up their run space. I now throw out a handful of flock raiser crumbles (20% protein) for them once every day when I am able. They seem to be enjoying the higher protein.

The chicks are roughly 8 weeks old now so I plan to switch all the feed to the 20% feed so I can integrate the chicks.