my chickens are not laying eggs

[fingers13]

my two chickens fingers and nugget are about a year and a half and i get 2 eggs everyday or every other day. but in the last week or so fingers hadnt layed any eggs as well as nugget. i checked in their coop and she growled at me but there were no eggs. does any one have a reason as to why this is happening?

 

[canada-goose]

She might be broody.

 

[fingers13]

is being broody a bad thing will she lay again this is all new to me

 

[gogoalie]

Well, if she's growlin' at ya, she just might be a dog...JK...

How much sunlight or light are they getting? How "stressed" are they? & so much more to figure...what breed, what are they eatin' how much water...etc. etc.

 

[canada-goose]

Broodiness can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. If she really is broody, you could set fertile eggs under her and she might hatch them.

 

[NurseNettie]

Might be molting. If they are molting, they won't lay as often while making feathers.
Broody means she wants to sit on eggs and hatch them. Usually they dont' stop laying til they've got a clutch under them, but it happens ( especially if she's growling!)
Or, they're being finicky. Too hot, too cold, just taking a break.....
Are they acting otherwise normally?

 

[fingers13]

they are buff orpingtons they are 16 months they are always out side in the back yard which is most sun and some shade no stress no predators a large yard to roam they started laying at 9 months they have plenty of clean fresh water everyday they eat layer feed and they get corn or apple cores every now and again but i havent given them thoes since they stopped laying

 

[fingers13]

its hot here in florida and she hasnt been sitting in the nesting box as she was sitting in the nesting box the act like dogs they follow me everywhere and when i call them they run to me its quite funny

 

[kudzu vine]

I posted a message May 23 about my hens not laying. I'm doing an experiment, which has been going on less than a week and here are the results.

I have barred rocks, buffs and Betty (mix bantam and buff I think). They are in a fenced area. However, in the morning I turn them loose in a very large, wood fenced back yard and they stay all day.

First, I've hung a 25 watt bulb in their house, right now on 24/7. Second, I don't feed them in the morning, only when I put them up in the late afternoon and then I give them about 90% laying pellets and 10% cracked corn with oyster shell.

Some were staying on the roost in their house past noon every day. After about 4 days, I'm getting three new eggs each day. These hens are about 2 years old. They get treats and are basically spoiled - that could be the problem.

I live in North Mississippi and it has already been hitting the 90's. This past winter, I got an egg from just about all every day, a time when they should have stopped laying. I'm very aggrevated with the girls, but I'll keep this experiement up another couple of weeks. So far, it seems to be working - slowly.