no eggs in two months!

[rockrun]

sometime during the heat wave here in central indiana our two ri reds stopped laying and their little red head things are laying down,we have lots of feathers but thats it.the guy at the feed store everyone is hes talked to is having a great year for eggs,he said to keep feeding the laying mash.but this is gettin old.

 

[Den in Penn]

How old are they? Lots of feathers flying around may mean they are molting. If the heat really stressed them if might take a couple of weeks for them to recover.

 

[teach1rusl]

As was mentioned, lots of feathers everywhere means they're molting. Most chickens either completely stop laying or barely lay while they're molting, because generating new feathers requires a lot of protein, which is what goes into making eggs too. So the growing new feathers venture wins. Boost their protein and cut out junk treats such as store bought scratch, corn, etc...

PS - the majority of my flock is currently molting, and I've seen many others posts about the same thing...

 

[rockrun]

whats a good general food for them,im not real clear on that.thanks

 

[Den in Penn]

For hens the best feed is usually layer. If they are in molt a higher protein feed will help them regrow their feathers and get them back to layer sooner. If the layer you got is around 16%, ask if they have a higher protein layer. Layer feed can range from 16% to 22%