My hens just stopped laying.

[Bills Chicks]

I have 4 hens (a R.I.R., 2 Buffs and I can't remember what the other one is) that are almost a year old. They have all been laying for 5 or 6 months now. I usually get 3 to 4 eggs a day. Suddenly, last week, my egg production has almost stopped. I believe that I got 2 eggs this past week. I do not see any signs of them eating the eggs. One hen is broody right now, but there is never anything under her and there are 2 other nesting boxes for the other hens to lay in. There coop is snake proof so I do not suspect a snake. The hens are only out of the coop for about 2 or 3 hours in the evening and I can see where they go and they are not laying eggs anywhere else. They all appear to be healthy and I haven't changed there diet. I'm feeding them the same layer pellets they've been getting for the past 6 or 7 months. Any ideas why they stopped laying?

 

[chickenpeeple]

Are they molting? If they're not I think that's still pretty normal for them to stop laying eggs for a little bit. The breeds you named are dual purpose so they're not the best egg layers.

 

[DobieLover]

I have 4 hens (a R.I.R., 2 Buffs and I can't remember what the other one is) that are almost a year old. They have all been laying for 5 or 6 months now. I usually get 3 to 4 eggs a day. Suddenly, last week, my egg production has almost stopped. I believe that I got 2 eggs this past week. I do not see any signs of them eating the eggs. One hen is broody right now, but there is never anything under her and there are 2 other nesting boxes for the other hens to lay in. There coop is snake proof so I do not suspect a snake. The hens are only out of the coop for about 2 or 3 hours in the evening and I can see where they go and they are not laying eggs anywhere else. They all appear to be healthy and I haven't changed there diet. I'm feeding them the same layer pellets they've been getting for the past 6 or 7 months. Any ideas why they stopped laying?

Can you collect a combined sample of their droppings and get a fecal float done at your vet? Most vets will do a fecal. Worms can cause a decrease in egg production. This is just one idea. I'm sure others will have more.

 

[Chicka_deee]

My chickens only like a spacific nesting box, and won’t go to the others, they are weird, but maybe, maybe
Im just guessing, maybe it’s the broody hen sitting on the nesting box, and the other chickens are like, well, I can’t use my favorite nesting box, guess I won’t lay...

 

[aart]

The broody could certainly be disrupting things.
Did the egg decrease happen about the same time she went broody?
Do you plan on letting her hatch?
If not, you should break her broodiness promptly.
Put some fake eggs in the other nests might tempt the others to lay in them.....
.....or the broody could try to take over the fake eggs.