I would really love to have eggs again.... Help..

[MrsChickenPam]

Same thing is happening here! I have six 18mo hens, all began laying well over a year ago. Productivity went down due to summer heat (Texas), but now it's gotten even worse! I'm lucky if I get one egg every other day. And it seems to be from one hen only (I can tell by the color/size). Now they ALL seem to be molting, so how long can I expect this to last? I was used to 4-6 eggs a day and now I don't even get that in a week!

 

[wct1992]

I have six girls as well and they are down to maybe one or two every other day. They have been laying for 2 yrs. I hope they are not done laying. I have given them the life not many chickens enjoy. Air conditioned, well lit coop and a large predator free pen as well as being heated in the winter.

 

[Loghousemom]

I am new as well, but from everything I have read there are several reasons they may not be laying.

Molting may cause them not to lay. Worms and mites are other reasons.

I have also read that the stress of adding or removing hens from the flock can also stress them enough not to lay (this has been my experience as well, but only for a couple of days not an extended length of time as you are describing)

I free range my chickens as well, but was becoming concerned as my chicks who should be laying have not, so I started leaving them in their coop until the late afternoon and after a week of that their production is back up. I have 4 15 month old chickens and the rest are about 22 weeks. I getting 2-3 eggs daily from the grown hens and yesterday had our first baby eggs from the young'ns. Hope you get it figured out!

 

[Chicks on DL]

When mine stopped laying due to stress I gave them extra high-protein scraps. Even if they slowed laying because of molting the extra protein will be good for them. It took a couple weeks but they started laying again. Also some probiotics or yogurt will help them feel better faster.

 

[valeriekasnick]

Thanks for the good tips! I have 15 one and a half year olds and their production went from about 10 eggs a day to 5. This started about 3 months ago and they are just now starting to increase. I just learned that moulting can last approx 4 months. Yesterday I started adding a little molasses to their water for the vitamins and now will add additional protein ~ maybe some dog food.

They seem to like that pretty well.

 

[MikeWu]

It looks like a common problem. I have 8 red pullets about 7 months old. They started laying about 3 months ago and at one point I was getting 7 eggs a day. Then suddenly some neighbor called city animal control complaining about our chickens and city told us we couldn't keep them. So I relocated them to my friend's property in the county. The move caused a drop in production but I was still getting 3 or so eggs per day. I got them a rooster, hoping that could booster egg production. Not sure if that helps but slowing I was getting sometimes 4 per day. Then the rooster died of an accident, and egg production dropped to about 1 per day. I went to a commercial slaughter house and selected a good looking rooster for them. He is not as active as his predecessor, but still doing his duties as I got a couple fertile eggs. But a few days after getting this new rooster, all hens stopped laying. Now I get 0 egg. They are not molting, not broody. Weather here is still very warm with plenty sunshine, they eat a lot of feed every day. I noticed one or 2 hens were slightly inactive, appearing a bit sick, but all recovered after a few days.

Are there any veterinarian or expert in here that can help us? Really appreciate!

 

[otowner98]

I have 6 eighteen month old hens (several breeds). They slowed down during the summer when we had some wicked heat, but about a month ago, I introduced 2 three month old hens and since then we've been getting a dwindling supply, down from about 5 a day to 1-2 every other day. I can tell they don't "like" the new girls (won't let them out into the run for one thing), but how long until everyone settles down and gets back to work? Will it help when the new 2 start laying in the coming weeks? Anything I can do to speed this along? The wife is starting to think chicken soup if she can't have her fresh egg omelettes.

Thanks!

 

[valeriekasnick]

I also adopted 3 new girls and had mild problems for a month or so. I was told afterwards that I should have kept them separated for a week where they could see each other and not be together and then release the newbies into the coop after dark. If there is a next time, I will do it that way!

 

[ladychicken&Ducklover]

Im having the same problem !

I even made a post on this thread earlier today. I havent checked to see if anyone answered my questions yet, so Im no help..

Did ALL hens send out email memos regarding this telling each other to stop laying? LOL

My girls are all over 1.5 years old, different laying breeds, then one leghorn . She is the only one still laying..

I have Them in various flocks, but they stopped laying about a week ago, and they are not molting and they get all the healthy nutrients and a little dog food sometimes, and Nothing.

I have one BR who is the only chicken left in a flock of 3 female ducks. The ducks are laying machines..!! The BR lost her hatchmate in June, and literally stopped the day the other lady

drowned!!

Im thinking hers is due to stress from that, I dunno.

Im glad Im not the only one with this problem. Ill be monitoring this thread hoping to see some hens starting to lay again.

 

[otowner98]

Update - mine are definitely molting - feathers everywhere, especially out in the run. In addition to that, 1 or more of the "big girls" killed the little Dominique. Not too thrilled about that. Now just hoping they finish molting (do they get mean during that) and get back to laying.

Also, mine could see each other for weeks before I introduced them. Just wish I'd had somewhere larger to keep them separate in as I think that couldn't have hurt.