My chickens haven't laid in months. What have I done?

[guinea fowl galore]

well our house is being renovated so there is a lot of noise at day from early morning to mid afternoon. that might be stressing them out but it has been going on for ages now so they should be used to it.
it's getting a bit annoying though cause we have to buy all our eggs now and the chickens are still going through 2 $30 bags of food a week

 

[TedJan92_in_Idaho]

AS DAY LIGHT GROWS SHORT YOU NEED TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT AND LENGTH OF LIGHT ARTIFICIALLY. Have you entered winter where you are located?

 

[MjChickens]

My first guess would also be the protein levels and then if they are not getting enough daylight they won't lay either. I hope it is an easy fix. Good Luck.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
Actually I disagree with this as a mandate. It is a personal choice whether or not to add light. The commercial egg producers certainly do as they don't care about the health of the chickens so much as getting every egg they can in a short space of time. However many of us prefer to allow the chickens a more natural life, even if it means the eggs are spread out over a longer period of time.

Going back to the egg-eating, if they are eating the eggs, it is unlikely you will see any evidence of it (i.e. they will clean up the entire thing so you wouldn't be left with soggy bedding). One way to find out is to put a couple of your store-bought eggs in there, walk away for an hour and see if they are still there when you get back.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
Brilliant idea! Even come back next day....

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Putting an egg in the nesting box is a great idea, I'll do that today.
I also wouldn't use artificial lighting. It's best if I get eggs from my chickens but I wouldn't go that far messing with them. I'm more worried that the chickens not laying eggs is a result of them not being healthy. so I am trying to figure out what I should/shouldn't be giving them to make them healthy and us getting eggs is a bonus. It's a win win situation.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Neither would I -- if this were me, I'd set up my video camera with a 6 hour tape and let it go starting at sunrise one morning and see what is up -- I would strongly suspect egg eating under the circumstances given, sounds like the most likely scenario.

 

[sonew123]

How big is this coop and run for 50 birds? Have you checked for live and mites?

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Quote:
I have 7 coops. My biggest coops has 9 laying hens in it and my second biggest coop has 4 hens in it 3 laying and one dud that has never laid an egg. they are not cramped up. my big coop is 2x2 meters with a 4x2 meter run and the next biggest coop is about 2 1/2x1 meters with a 2 1/2 x 2 meter run.
And all the other 30 something chickens are either roosters, not laying yet, past laying or bantams, and I usually don't care about the bantam eggs but lately they are laying better then the big chickens.
yesterday there was an eggs in each of the two coops. but I left them there anyway to see what happens. And I gave them all a few cups of black sunflower seeds which they gobbled up, as usual.
they shouldn't have any mites or lice. I dust their coops with stuff called pestene every time i clean them. and the chicken have garlic in their water regularly.

 

[DaughterOfEve]

lice, mites, worms are all good suspects but before adding chemicals to your list of fixes I would start with the egg eating or even egg hording. They will from time to time hide eggs and you could find a clutch under a coop or out in the woods if you free range. Eliminate these two before starting on the medications for the others. Oh age is also a factor. Any hen over 3 will naturally slow down their egg production.