laying good, then nothing...

[AlivianAcres]

My gals are acting weird...they start laying OK, then 2 weeks later, no eggs...2-4 weeks go by with nothing then eggs again for a couple weeks. What am I doing wrong?!?!!!! They are pastured...and I rarely find an egg outside the coop.

 

[Percheron chick]

I had the same problem and thought it was the heat we've been having. No. The magpies have discovered the laying boxes and raid them if I don't run out there and rescue them just as soon as they hit the straw.

Are they still eating well? I'd back off on any heat producing feeds like corn and give them some frozen treats (I'm still working on last year's squash) to keep them comfortable.

I'd keep scouring the area for a new place that they're laying outside. My one that insists on laying in an open stall changes where she lays about every 3-4 days.

 

[Jrose]

I have the same problem, but only with two of my girls. I have an araucana for over a year now who will lay daily for two or three weeks, then stop for a week or two. I have a pheonix, same age/ownership time, who will lay daily or every other day for a week or two, then stop for two weeks or so. I've heard pheonix are finicky layers.

I've never associated it with weather or events, no patterns I could pick out. I don't feed any grain in the summer, and they get mostly just grain in the winter when the garden scraps run out. I always figured their systems were just taking a break.