No Eggs?

[hawkeyext]

I have two issues with my chickens not producing eggs. Any advice is appreciated.

1. We started with 25 chickens are were getting about 22.5 eggs a day on average. We had a MAJOR heatwave for a week which production went down to about 5 eggs a day. Even 1 or 2 sometimes. The heat wave has passed BUT we just had a hawk attack and kill one bird 4 days ago. Since then we've gotten 1-3 eggs a day. Is this solely stress related and when will they bounce back?

2. After purchasing those 25 we bought another 10 from a different farm. He told us they should start laying in within a month. We quarantined them for a month and have since integrated them into our flock. It's been at least another month since then. Probably two. I notice they still slept on their old make-shift nesting bars, away from the coop that holds the original 25. So I removed access to those makeshift bars in an attempt to make them sleep inside the coop with the others and have access to the boxes. Still no eggs from them. Should I make them their own nesting boxes? (I then worry about the others using this new one and more time/labor involved in harvesting.)

Thoughts on either issue?

Thanks!

 

[junebuggena]

First of all, chickens are ridiculously sensitive to stress. Anything that causes stress will stop production, from heat to predator attacks to new flock members. You're flock has been subjected to all three. Changing things in the coop can also be a source of stress. Is the coop large enough for all 35 birds? Not enough space can also cause enough stress for them to stop laying. It can take some hens over a month for the stress hormones to completely clear their systems. It's also about time for annual molting. Molting birds put all of their energy into growing new feathers, not egg production.
If they free range, they may be laying somewhere other than the nest boxes. Also, if you feed layer feed but also offer lots of treats or scratch, they may not be getting enough protein to support production. A higher protein content feed may be what your flock needs.