My girls have gone on strike! Help!

[1stepcloser]

All three of my girls have stopped laying eggs. I have had 2 eggs in the last 10 days. Nobody is molting. They are healthy, well fed, have lots of space to roam, fresh water, etc. I have searched every inch of the yard and there are no hidden eggs. Could it be because it is so freaking hot? (Over 90 for the past week and a half.)

 

[animallover505]

get a fan! And more cold water!!

 

[1stepcloser]

They run around the yard...I don't think the fan will help unless I chase them around with it.

 

[1stepcloser]

I thought I would add in addition to free ranging they get a ton of treats from the kitchen and all the layer crumble they want. Is this a heat thing or should I start thinking about freezer camp?

 

[NovaAman]

Its the heat. AND a fan will work, the chickens breeze created will cool the chickens. They will hold their wings out and the breeze helps them to cool. Do they have plenty of shade too? But yeah, we here in MI just had a nice heat wave, and my layers didn't lay for a few days... It cooled off, and back to normal. Was using frozen water jugs hanging in the coops at night, hosing the coops off near roost time to cool them off, hosing the ground under the shrubbery that they hang out it, all help. How old are they anyway?

 

[1stepcloser]

They are about 13 months old. I will drag a fan out there tonight then. They have lots of shade although I haven't sprayed down where they lay to cool off. (dirt under the porch is their favorite spot) Thanks for the advice!

 

[MGFarm]

I'm having the same problem here in Va. We were getting 35-42 eggs/day from 46 hens ranging from 15-22 months old, all healthy with no signs of illness. Then we had a heat wave roll in this past week (97 degrees, 105 degree heat index). We went down to 12-17 eggs/day. We started adding solid blocks of ice to the waterers each day and we moved our portable poultry netting from being on the edge of the woods to being about 4 feet into the woods to give them more shade (they're pastured but we use a solar powered poultry netting to keep predators out). That's pretty much the best you can do to try to cool them down (I agree with some posters that it is hard to fan a free-range chicken).

 

[MGFarm]

Now that I think about it, a solar powered fan directed toward the laying boxes would probably help. Yesterday, I also thought about one of those water atomizer systems like I've seen out in Arizona and Las Vegas. They reduce the ambient temp quite a bit. However, here in Va, I wonder if is too humid to run an atomizer to cool poultry?

 

[1stepcloser]

Hey, I just wanted to say thank you! I put the fan on them last night and voila! I had 2 out of 3 eggs today! Needless to say the fan is on again until this heatwave snaps.