Hens stopped laying?

[AprilS6464]

Hi - I have four hens, 2 are almost 4 years old and 2 are about 3 years old. Within the last 3-4 weeks, egg production has dropped significantly. We were getting 1-4 eggs per day and now we are getting 1-2 eggs per week. They are fed well with the Kalmbach Henhouse Reserve. They get grubblies every day. We mix diatomaceous earth in their food. They look good with shiny feathers and bright red combs and wattles. They seem happy when I go out there, but no eggs. Any ideas? We have had strange weather this year, with the Canadian smoke and rain. Please help! Thank you!

 

[Bertram]

They might be hiding there eggs. Do you let them free range?

 

[Little Tala Bug]

This happened to me and it turned out to be a secret nest. I blocked up a gap in the fence that I suspected they were going through to lay and sure enough, eggs started appearing in the normal nest boxes again. Try confining them for 24-48 hours and see if production picks back up.

 

[AprilS6464]

Thank you so much for the replies. Our chickens don’t get to free range much since one got stolen by a fox so there’s no secret nest. I’ve looked around the run and no eggs there either. They laid two eggs yesterday (the only ones this week) and they are significantly smaller than usual. Please see photo. Normal eggs on left, new eggs on right. Could this be a nutritional deficiency? As I mentioned, they eat the Henhouse Reserve and get a handful or two of grubblies per day. Would oyster shell help? Not sure why their production dropped off. It seemed to be sudden. Also, one of yesterday’s eggs was in the coop, not the nesting box. Thank you for your time and help!!

 

[Bertram]

Try adding crushed eggshells or oyster shells to there feed. Maybe it's a calcium deficiency.

 

[Kiki]

A few handfuls of worms a day for 4 birds is too much.
Feed a layer crumble or pellet only and only offer one handful of worms one day a week.

Feeding too many treats too often causes problems.