Molting egg strike?

[huntersmoon]

I've got 10 hens, and none of them have laid eggs since the end of August. I'm in central Texas, where it has been and still is hot. I feed them H&H green tag layer, and add grit to their feed. I also sprinkle out mealworms into the run daily, and have at least one treat hanger.

None act unhappy, and the coop and run are covered in feathers from molting - although they don't look scraggly. Today is shaving refresh day, so I'll be watching for more feathers after today.

All of the hens are at least 3-1/2 years old - the white hen and rooster are 4-1/2 and a couple might be a year older than that.

No poopy butt or egg bound behavior, everyone is eating.

Should I just keep assuming this is from the heat and molting?

Thanks
Shannon

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Heat can halt egg production and so can molting. Additionally, older hens will take longer breaks from laying. So you have a lot of reasons for low production right now. I have about a dozen hens, probably six of whom are actually laying—the rest are molting, old and molting, or too young to lay. The old (4+ years) ones are taking forever to molt and I don’t expect I’ll see another egg from them until next spring.

 

[huntersmoon]

Thanks, that's reassuring. I haven't identified anything wrong with any of them, it's good to get verification that it can go on this long. That makes sense about the older hens.