My Year-Old Hens Have Suddenly Stopped Laying--Help?

[Miraleef]

I have 9 hens--two Buff's, three leghorns, two black sexlinks and two red sexlinks. The blacks are still laying almost every day. One leghorn is laying every day (two of them are taking turns, one isn't laying at all). Production has been going down for a couple of weeks now, but really bad (2-3 eggs a day for the past 3 days). I introduced 4 new young birds into the group about 5 weeks ago, but they integrated well and production didn't slow at all that first 3 wks.

I wormed them all two weeks ago and gave them all 5 days of Cordid, as I had one leghorn that was lethargic and staying by herself. It only took her 2-3 days to completely snap out of it, but she's never laid an egg again. None of the others have had any symptoms, and I've checked their droppings and never seen a sign of worms. I wormed as a precaution (it went into their food for 3-4 days and they ate it fine). The drop in production happened after I wormed them. Could that be the cause?

They haven't molted yet, and they are 14 months old (the young ones are 15 weeks). The two black ones that are still laying lost a number of feathers on their upper neck, but that's it. The young ones have lost a few feathers, but I never see any sign of molting on any of the mature birds other than that.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like a pretty flock of chickens!

They are probably molting right now, even if it doesn't look like it at times. They will begin to lose feathers and look scruffy and their combs will pale.
They may also stop laying if they are stressed, too hot, not getting enough hours of sunlight a day, or not getting enough protein in their diet.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Miraleef]

Quote:
Thanks, I do hope it's molting, as they're getting tons of daylight each day, excellent food and protein, are healthy, and while the heat has just hit us two days ago, that wouldn't account for the past two weeks when the temps were moderate. But is it typical for them to quit laying several weeks prior to losing feathers? And do chickens always lost a lot of feathers when they molt? I'd think at least a few of these would be, but none are so far (other than a few tiny neck feathers on the two birds that are still laying).

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like they are well taken care of!

I don't think my chickens all molt at the same time, so its hard for me to tell you how it exactly works. However, here's a picture of one of my Red Stars, who had been over bred by roosters and was sick for a while. Her back was bald. She got better and this is her regrowing her feathers.


You can see all the white patches of down-like feathers and the pin feathers growing in. Their comb also goes pale for a little while.

 

[aart]

14 months is a little young to go into a full molt.

Do your birds free range? They may be laying out in their range area because of the newcomers.

Have you checked them for mites and lice?
Did you quarantine the new birds?
Did you worm(what did you use?) and treat with Corid at the same time?

 

[Miraleef]

14 months is a little young to go into a full molt.

Do your birds free range? They may be laying out in their range area because of the newcomers.

Have you checked them for mites and lice?
Did you quarantine the new birds?
Did you worm(what did you use?) and treat with Corid at the same time?

No, they don't free range. They have a large fenced area, but they've stripped it of anything green, so eggs are easy to spot. But 99% of the time they lay in their nesting boxes.

I use Diatomaceous earth for mites and lice, sprinkled liberally on the ground where they like to dust themselves.

I used Rooster Booster. I gave Cordid for 5 days, then immediately after, started them on the Rooster Booster.

Yes, the new birds were kept apart for the first 7 weeks. No issues at all. Very healthy.

I thought chickens molted when they were around a year old? No? They were a year in early April. I was actually kind of expecting them to molt this fall, as that's what I've read. That's why I didn't think they were molting now....that, and no loss of feathers.

 

[Miraleef]

Sounds like they are well taken care of!

I don't think my chickens all molt at the same time, so its hard for me to tell you how it exactly works. However, here's a picture of one of my Red Stars, who had been over bred by roosters and was sick for a while. Her back was bald. She got better and this is her regrowing her feathers.


You can see all the white patches of down-like feathers and the pin feathers growing in. Their comb also goes pale for a little while.

Thank you for sharing the picture, that was helpful! I have one chicken that's lost a few feathers around her neck--enough to look scruffy there, but that was several weeks ago and she hasn't lost any more.

 

[aart]

Quote: Great response, thank you.

Chickens change plumage 3-4 times before a year of age, but yes, they usually don't do their first full blown adult molt until about 18 months.
I have some about the same age and some with brittle feathers have lost feathers to rooster treading and picking from bullies but they are still laying.

I don't know anything about worming with Rooster Booster, but if they stopped laying after eating it, it might very well have something to do with the lack of eggs.
You won't generally see worms in poops, except for round worms........worms can only be detected by a fecal exam or a necrospy.
I generally don't like to 'treat' for something I have not positively ID'd, so an effective treatment can be applied, you never know what the side effects might be.

DE can help prevent mites and lice but only close examination(parting feathers down to skin around vent, head, neck, and under wings) can tell whether it's working or not.
It's not real good for them to breathe.

Only the one leghorn showed any signs of illness?
Any chance they ran out of water, even for a few hours, during that hot spell?
How big is your coop(feet by feet)? Crowding can cause stress and cause cessation of lay.

Just guesses...brainstorming possibilities....

 

[Miraleef]

Chickens change plumage 3-4 times before a year of age, but yes, they usually don't do their first full blown adult molt until about 18 months.

Good to know, thanks.

I don't know anything about worming with Rooster Booster, but if they stopped laying after eating it, it might very well have something to do with the lack of eggs.
You won't generally see worms in poops, except for round worms........worms can only be detected by a fecal exam or a necrospy.
I generally don't like to 'treat' for something I have not positively ID'd, so an effective treatment can be applied, you never know what the side effects might be.

I gave the Rooster Booster for only 3 days, but it was recommended for up to five, but I suppose it's possible. However, there have been days we've still gotten 5 or 6 eggs (like today--5 out of 9 laid)....where the past three days, it was 2-3, which is very, very low for my flock. Typical is 6-7.

DE can help prevent mites and lice but only close examination(parting feathers down to skin around vent, head, neck, and under wings) can tell whether it's working or not.
It's not real good for them to breathe.

I'll check their skin, thanks for letting me know. What do you recommend for lice/mites instead?

Only the one leghorn showed any signs of illness?
Correct

Any chance they ran out of water, even for a few hours, during that hot spell?
No. I have three waterers and check them several times a day. And in this heat, we're dumping and refilling daily to keep it fresh as it gets warm.

How big is your coop(feet by feet)? Crowding can cause stress and cause cessation of lay.

About 30' by 45". Thanks for all your help and brainstorming. I guess at this point I just wait and see what happens, since they're all healthy. But we're supposed to have some brutal heat the next 10 days, so I won't expect much. Any suggestions how to keep the poor birds cooled off? Their pen is under deep shade and I put grass clippings in on the ground when we mow, and they lay on that (after eating some of it). No chemicals are used on our lawn.