No eggs!

[henjen215]

Hello all!

I have a flock of about 12 hens and one rooster. About 7 of the hens are 2 years old or less. Over the past year or so, they just stopped laying eggs. At first I thought something was getting in and stealing the eggs. I set up cameras and checked every evening for eggs and nothing. I would switch their feed and sometimes when I would do this, they would lay for a few days, then BAM, nothing. I found a local farmer that makes his own feed and I fed it to my girls and wow, I was so excited for a few days - it was like the good ole days, then here we go again - NOTHING. I for the life of me can't figure it out. I can't say it's the weather, because we have been through every season here in Pennsylvania, they have fresh clean water everyday, no predators lurking. It's literally been over a year! It's so frustrating! I've changed their food several times, I don't notice any odd behavior so I can't say they are stressed - I just can't figure it out!
I'm about ready to just start over. I have a friend who also has chickens willing to take them off my hands knowing my egg dilemma and figured I would start over again in the spring but thought maybe I'd try any other suggestions before I turn them over to her. Thanks in advance!

 

[nuthatched]

Hmm.
What's the coop like? Have you wormed them? Checked for mites un the coop?
Any stressors? Dogs, nightly predators etc.
Feed rarely has anything to do with it unless they were getting straight up low quality feed.

 

[NatJ]

I would switch their feed and sometimes when I would do this, they would lay for a few days, then BAM, nothing. I found a local farmer that makes his own feed and I fed it to my girls and wow, I was so excited for a few days - it was like the good ole days, then here we go again - NOTHING. I for the life of me can't figure it out.

When you changed food and they started laying, how soon did the change happen? (Eggs the next day? Eggs after a week? Eggs starting a month after the feed change?)

Over the past year or so, they just stopped laying eggs. At first I thought something was getting in and stealing the eggs. I set up cameras and checked every evening for eggs and nothing.

Where are the cameras pointing? Can they show what is happening inside the nestboxes?

I'm about ready to just start over. I have a friend who also has chickens willing to take them off my hands knowing my egg dilemma and figured I would start over again in the spring but thought maybe I'd try any other suggestions before I turn them over to her.

Have you tried checking them for physical signs of laying?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
The vent of a laying hen looks different than a non-laying chicken, and the tips of two bones can be felt close together just below it (in a non-layer) or further apart and further down (in a layer.)

A rooster does not lay eggs, so he is a good example of a non-layer. Compared with him, and laying hens should be obviously different.


You have certainly thought of, checked, and discussed many of the common causes (things that would cause the hens not to lay, and things that would cause the eggs to disappear so you don't know they are laying.) This is definitely puzzling!

 

[henjen215]

Hmm.
What's the coop like? Have you wormed them? Checked for mites un the coop?
Any stressors? Dogs, nightly predators etc.
Feed rarely has anything to do with it unless they were getting straight up low quality feed.

Coop is clean - Never thought to worm them - that is an idea. Also - I will check for mites. No stressors, that's what I was checking with the cameras. Thanks - I'll try those ideas!

 

[henjen215]

When you changed food and they started laying, how soon did the change happen? (Eggs the next day? Eggs after a week? Eggs starting a month after the feed change?)

Where are the cameras pointing? Can they show what is happening inside the nestboxes?


Have you tried checking them for physical signs of laying?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
The vent of a laying hen looks different than a non-laying chicken, and the tips of two bones can be felt close together just below it (in a non-layer) or further apart and further down (in a layer.)

A rooster does not lay eggs, so he is a good example of a non-layer. Compared with him, and laying hens should be obviously different.


You have certainly thought of, checked, and discussed many of the common causes (things that would cause the hens not to lay, and things that would cause the eggs to disappear so you don't know they are laying.) This is definitely puzzling!

They would lay the next day or two then stop and continue for the next day or three then stop. And not every time I changed their feed.

No, I had the cameras outside the coop where a predator would enter. I didn't go so far as to check them physically. I figured if they all stopped, it was something to do with them all - not just one.

It is defiantly puzzling!!! I just received a suggestion of worming the girls and checking the coop for mites. Maybe that will be the solution. Thanks for your help!!!

 

[DLA]

The above suggestions about worming and mites/lice are good. I hope you're able to figure it out. I know mine get a little off sometimes when there's a raccoon or possum messing around at night but I wouldn't think that would cause the extended lack of eggs you're experiencing. Could there be rodents or a snake getting in and getting the eggs somehow? I know you said you had cameras, you had them right on the nest boxes and outside the coop also?

 

[NatJ]

They would lay the next day or two then stop and continue for the next day or three then stop. And not every time I changed their feed.

No, I had the cameras outside the coop where a predator would enter. I didn't go so far as to check them physically. I figured if they all stopped, it was something to do with them all - not just one.

It is defiantly puzzling!!! I just received a suggestion of worming the girls and checking the coop for mites. Maybe that will be the solution. Thanks for your help!!!

From what you have said, I wonder if this is happening:
--hens lay eggs, then eat them
--you introduce new food, hens like that new food for a few days, do not eat eggs
--hens get tired of the new food, go back to eating eggs when they can
(Obviously the hens are eating some amount of the food in all cases, it would just be a difference in whether they prefer to eat the eggs when they can.)

I cannot explain why hens would like a new food for a few days and then get tired of it, especially since many people have chickens that refuse to eat unfamiliar foods. But it would explain the pattern of feed and eggs.

If a hen is not laying eggs, it takes her body several weeks to make a bunch of yolks big enough to put in eggs. Then she lays one egg after another for quite a while, until something causes her to stop (short days of winter, not enough food, too much stress, broodiness, etc.)

But for you to get eggs in the first few days of the new food, the hens must already be laying, and for whatever reason the eggs were disappearing before you could find them. If they were not laying, there is no way for them to start laying that quickly after a feed change.

Or it could be a similar scenario, but with eggs getting taken by some animal (maybe a rat?) that normally eats the eggs but leaves them alone for a few days when the new food appears. (Maybe it eats the new food, or maybe it is waiting to see if that new stuff is some sort of a trap.)


Checking the hens' butts to see if they are laying is one way to try and figure out if they are laying (but the eggs disappear) or if they are not laying. If you know which one is really the problem, you can be more effective about stopping it.

Maybe you could try marking one or two store eggs (so you can recognize them), and put them in the nests one day. Check the next day to see if they are still there. That might be a way to see if something is in the habit of stealing/eating eggs.

Do you have any fake eggs in the nests? If yes, do they ever disappear? That might provide some kind of a clue too.