my chicken stopped laying after predator attack

[alsaulnier]

A predator killed one of my free range chicken in September. My other hens stopped laying immediately. Two of them have started laying again the other six have not. I don't know what to do about it.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Chickens live on the razors edge between health and disaster. Everything that happens might interrupt their laying schedule or put them into a downward spiral. This is why one ALWAYS quarantines incoming new birds for a few weeks because the change in location and stress of travel will drop their resistance enough for disease already in their bodies but held in check by their immune system to kick in.

Chickens are prey animals so they reproduce fast and evolution has not wasted a lot of sturdiness in their bodies.

 

[LtDanFan]

Related question…. In the last several weeks, to a month or so we discovered a problem with raccoons getting to the chicken yard. And then my cockerel was killed by a predator, a pullet on another day, and the rooster died unexpectedly (i think suffocation due too many cramming themselves into the smaller coop for fear of the bigger coop thanks to those coons, as he was found dead in the coop with no signs of trauma or illness and the ladies were fine). I have noticed a drastic drop in production recently. Like we went from 4-5 eggs a day (for 6 confirmed laying hens) to maybe 1 or 2. Can i do something to help them get back to their business and feel safe again?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are you sure this is not just a typical, normal seasonal decrease in production due to shorter daylight hours? I'm in MO and am getting zero to 1, sometimes 2 a day from 15 confirmed layers. We're down to about 10 hours of daylight so I'm not surprised, from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You could put a light in the coop either early in the morning or in the evening to try to increase production. It does not have to be a bright light, just enough to read by. You're farther north than I am. You might want to wait till everyone is done molting but I'm not even sure that's necessary. I believe 20% feed helps with that, myself, but some of my girls seem to be molting hard and slow this year. Due to the unusually warm weather? I don't know.