My chickens are NOT EGGspert layers!

[DeepFried]

What gives... 7 hens, no eggs since August. Three are 2-3 years old, the others are just under a year. They have been living together the whole time, no signs of a stressful social pecking order. They have been wormed twice in that time (no evidence of an infestation). No sign of mites. They have continuous access to 22% layer and oyster shells and clean water. The three older ones molted in October- November. All feather coats look healthy. No evidence of predators/ neighbor pet agitation, they are in a very secure coop/ run.

What else could be keeping them (even just 1) from laying?????

 

[Pork Pie]

Thats a depressing statistic! What breed are they? Are you sure that they are not laying elsewhere? Maybe try cleaning out their nest boxes and treating them for lice / mites (the boxes). Food wise they should be fine. Not really sure what else to suggest - having said that, where i live chickens do not go through a moult per se so maybe other members can advise.

All the best
CT

 

[DeepFried]

They are sex-links; I chose that breed for the "excellent" egg laying.... The older one produced very well up until that point. The coop/ run they are in has no other hiding places for eggs; they are not allowed out of the "compound"; The structure (coop, nest boxes and roof of the run) is treated periodically with Malathion as per manufacturer's instruction. The coop/ run can be seen in my avatar. I have a "dust bath" that is a removable box that is cleaned and refilled often; I even mix hardwood ashes with the new dirt when it is refilled. Mites/ lice stand very little chance; no evidence (including on the birds) exist.

 

[donrae]

Are they the chicks in your profile pic? Can you post pictures of them now?

 

[wamtazlady]

Sex-link hens are egg laying machines for about 2 years. Then their time is over. I know people who keep sex-links. First they got red stars. Next year they got black stars. The next spring when they got red stars again, they culled all their old red stars. I've read that after 2 years old the sex-links also have a higher rate of ovarian cancer due to them laying so much when young. If your sex-links are closer to 3 years old they just might be done laying.