Is the egg hiatus starting again?

[Happyville]

So a few (or so) years ago, around this time, my chickens, which were, I believe, Rhode Island Reds, stopped laying. Not unusual during molting, but the hiatus from egg laying within my small flock went on for around four months. It seemed like forever. This was around the time other flock owners were complaining as well and I think for the most part, it was blamed on Tractor Supply's food; Dumor, I believe, was the brand. I wasn't using that brand and had never had that issue before in having chickens for around 10 years.

Last week, my small flock of Black Australorps appeared to go on hiatus as well. One is molting after being broody for nearly a month, so that's understandable for her not to be laying, but I worry about a repeat of the last time. The weather has been good, and nothing has changed with their food or environment to cause the stoppage. Just to make sure they weren't laying their eggs in some random place suddenly, I kept them all locked in their coop one day and they still produced no eggs.

This post is just to put some feelers out to see if anyone else has noticed within the last week that their flocks are suddenly not producing or barely producing. I only keep a small flock, so when they stop, the impact is felt pretty quickly. This is my 13th year with chickens and besides the incident I mentioned above a few years ago, they all have laid consistently once of age and aside from slowing down in the dead of winter, I've been fortunate to have plenty of eggs year-round, which was my goal when I started sharing my yard, patio, flower beds, and on one occasion, my house, with chickens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If they're all over 18 months old (or close to that) then it's not unusual that they've stopped for the winter. If you've routinely gotten eggs in the winter regardless for 13 years, then that's either very good planning with the ages of your flock, or you're supplementing lighting, or you've been fortunate with the birds you have as many of us get zero eggs throughout late fall and winter.

 

[Happyville]

If they're all over 18 months old (or close to that) then it's not unusual that they've stopped for the winter. If you've routinely gotten eggs in the winter regardless for 13 years, then that's either very good planning with the ages of your flock, or you're supplementing lighting, or you've been fortunate with the birds you have as many of us get zero eggs throughout late fall and winter.

I knew I'd leave something pertinent to my situation out and you found it! lol No, my birds aren't old and so the slowing isn't age-related. These Australorps aren't even two years old yet, so they should be laying like gang busters still. I was just curious if anyone else was seeing anything odd in a similar scenario, because it is unusual for nothing to change and suddenly they stop laying while all being completely healthy and happy. All that freeloading and then having to purchase eggs gets expensive.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I assume you've checked for pests, predators or thieves? Are the birds free ranged at all or do you have a very large run where they might hide eggs (you mention locking them in the coop for a day but did that include the run?) Any recent changes in routine or sudden stressors like a predator prowling around?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

There was a year when I was pretty much eggless from August till March, a period of about 7 months, and there was nothing sinister about it unless you think Mother Nature "had it in" for me, lol. It was a very hot summer so about mid-August most of my flock, all about 2 yo if I recall correctly, just went on strike. Understandable! I would too! These girls were in survival mode and the egg factory just shut down. Then about late September to mid-October they went into molt. I couldn't blame them for that, either. Who needs a down undercoat in those 80-90 temps anyway? This lasted till mid-November to early December. And then ... well, the days were short and the nights were long. Who had time to whip up a yolk, wrap it in white, get it over to the shell factory, get it painted, and shuffle it off to shipping in time for delivery before sundown? Yawn, time for bed, my hens would try again tomorrow. If there's time. ... eventually the sun came back from the Bahamas and production started up again, but lesson learned. NOW I make sure they get 12 to 14 hours of light, starting right after the last one finishes molting! And I hoard eggs starting in mid-September to last me through the Eggless Months so I'm never eggless again!