my chickens have stopped laying for some reason?!?!

[uncle rico]

Hi all,

havn't been on the forum in awhile but I have a problem here. I have about 45 hens that I bought as chicks last fall. Now they're about a year old and laying real steady up to about 2-3 wks ago. This summer, we were getting about 2 1/2 doz eggs a day, now that number has crashed to about 1-2 eggs a day!! do egg layers typically drop off this far with the onset of cold weather or shorter days or is something wrong here?? They havn't been laying outside the coop or anywhere else (I checked the entire area around the coop where they typically roam (these are free-range hens i may add). I don't have any broodies at the moment either. Egg eating is not a problem either as there are no traces of that. Needless to say, I am stymied!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might check out these articles. It is that time of year.

Mississippi State describes molting
http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html

Kansas State feather loss
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf

 

[uncle rico]

oh wait. i forgot about the molt

this is only my 2nd year keeping chickens and totally forgot about it. that explains why i have so many feathers all over my coop! does anyone still have anything to say about it?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Give them high protein treats or even switch to a higher protein feed for awhile (nonmedicated) with oyster shell on the side to help them develop their feathers.

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-5/Lisa_Jansen_Mathews.html

 

[Amyh]

Yep! I'm going through that as well. No eggs for us, but we have a smaller flock and 4 young birds are just starting to lay, so we should get enough eggs for our family for the next few months until our older girls grow back some feathers. I think for the small flock owner it's important to replace several birds per year in the Spring to help with this situation.