Hens stopped laying.

[Ajones]

I have one white leghorn and two Rhode Island Red hens, they were laying 3 eggs a day for about two month, then they stopped none in about a week . I've got a 100 watt bulb on them on a timer from about 5:30 till 7:00 am each morning , still nothing. Been feeding them layer pellets for about 8 weeks. They are about 8 months old, need some help, THANKS..

 

[stevetone]

Two things come to mind:

1. Adding 1.5 hours per day of light in the morning only brings you to 11-12 hours total per day (at least here in WI it does). Hens generally lay when there is at least 13-14 hours of light per day.
   
2. They may be starting to molt, which is a normal thing to do prior to Winter. They are, however, a little young to have a first big, egg-stopping, molt, so maybe not.

I would start with increasing the light duration. For reference, our lights come on at 2am, giving them 2am-5pm of light (15 hours).

But they are not machines--it will take a while for the increased lighting to start them laying again.

 

[Ajones]

I will try that, thanks very much for helping me. I'm new to this, I broke my ankle last week and haven't been able to spend a lot of time with them lately..

 

[Frostymug]

We live in the southern part of Virginia and have 13 hens. We got them as spring peepers in March so this is their first winter. As of about 2 days ago all of our hens are laying.
Here's what we do: Light bulb on a timer. The timer is set to go on at 5am to 8am (giving an early start to the day before the natural light takes over), we let them out around noon, then the light goes back on at 5pm (just when it starts getting dark) at which time they return to the coop, get their night time snack, and then the timer shuts off at 8pm. I would say this fits in nicely with the amount of "daylight" stevetone mentioned above.
So we've basically chosen to extend the lighted hours a little at the beginning and end of the day instead of all at once. One reason for this is that the night light helps to draw our birds to the coop, which is especially helpful in the summer.. We have 3 Guineas as well, and they need all the help they can get.
I hope this was helpful. It is our first year as flocksters.
Good luck!

 

[stevetone]

Another possible reason dawned on me this morning: parasites. If they have recently been victimized by lice or mites, this can affect laying.

You gave no evidence that this was the case, but I just wanted to add it as a possible cause.

 

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[Ajones]

They have not been vaccinated at all. They seem to be real healthy. I'm having trouble keeping water for them all the time. I bought a one gallon waterer and it leaks, bought a set of nipples and put. 5gallon of water to them and the nipples leaked. Right now I got only a quart of water to them and it don't seem to last all day, but I refill it in the evening when I get home. We feed them some table scraps mostly greens and bread. They love green peas. Do you think the water is the problem? Sometimes when I get home it's empty.

 

[Den in Penn]

Being short of water will stress them and since a lot of water goes into eggs, being out doesn't help. Its not Summer so its not a critical for their survival, but having enough water at all times is important. A small bucket or large pan will do for the short term.

 

[Ajones]

Well I put a light on them starting at 3:00am and got my first egg today after about two weeks.
THANKS everyone for the help..