I have 3 hens (one silky, one Barred Rock and one Dominique) all of whom have suddenly stopped laying eggs. They are three years old and had been laying eggs regularly until last week. They are not hiding their eggs. There are no egg stealers. They do not even go into the nest box anymore. I do not think they have been stressed. It has not been unusually hot. They are not molting. They do not have mites or lice. They otherwise seem normal. Any ideas?
Maybe they need more calcium.. get oyster shells. You can also get a feed that says its for egglaying, like it helps with laying eggs.
As a chicken ages, the egg production decreases. I'm not sure for how long your chickens have stopped laying, but there are some sources that say a three year old chicken would lay 1 egg per week. In commercial egg production 1-year to 18 months is usually the oldest they will keep hens because it becomes less profitable to keep the hens after those ages.
Give them a little coffee - cream and sugar in the mornings when you have yours. They don't really like it at first, you have to make them taste it. Then they like it so much, they'll steal yours! I found it stimulated my hen to lay at about 5 yrs old, when she hadn't been laying for about yrs. She continued to lay until she died of moulting at age 9.
Quote:That's awesome...I'll have to try that. Just as I fed my son's turtle some Pepsi just before the turtle races this past weekend at our town's weekend carnival.
Water--their need for water increases greatly in the hotter months. Perhaps you can look at their water situation. Enough water? Clean? Smell it. I use 1T cider vinegar per gal water to keep it free of slime. Temp of water? cool water is most desired temp. Not hot/warm and not cold. Exposure to light is also important. I had an EE start laying in Feb then in May she suddenly stopped. I figured out that the trees surrounding her coop had leaved out and was blocking the morning sun! We then unlocked the doors at an earlier hour and voila a few weeks later eggs again. Sometimes it takes a bit of sluthing to find the right answer. GL.
Well I am all sleuthed out. I have over 60 chickens, admittedly over half of them chicks less than a month old. At least 5 of our chooks, however, full-fledged "hens", and we only get 0-2 eggs a day. My barred rock never laid until she was 35 weeks, finally started laying at Christmastime (even though she hatched more than 8 months earlier), then she only laid eggs until April of this year, then just stopped. Now she acts like an old hen and just hangs out in the yard. The rooster doesn't mate her & she doesn't lay eggs. She is barely over a year old, and we have not had an egg from her in about 6 weeks. Since April, we have had a grand total of 2 eggs from her. She's not molting. I got her as a young pullet from a questionable chickenkeeper, though, and of the 5 pullets I bought from this person, only the barred rock (that doesn't lay) and 1 Easter egger are still alive. The rest are all dead, none of them accidental--all from various health concerns. I still have no idea why my barred rock stopped laying. I have one hen that went broody a while back & now has 8 chicks that she's raising/mothering. She will be a year old on July 13th, and this is already her second brood of chicks (she started laying in January, went broody 4 weeks later). I have one other hen that just went broody this past week. That leaves Lola (my red/brown ameraucana) and Bertha (my black and gold EE). They're the only ones laying right now. I originally went into chickenkeeping to get eggs, but I had bought my chickens as young pullets of about 8 weeks of age. Of those 5, two never did lay eggs, and like I said, the barred rock only laid for 4 months and then just very unceremoniously stopped laying. She also does not hang out with the other hens anymore and is kinda a loner. She sits by the back door and stares at me and wants to come in. It is a good thing I fell in love with my chickens and am not depending on them to provide eggs to feed my family, because I have not had much luck with egg production from my flock. I think sometimes, they just stop laying for unexplained reasons.
Thanks for all the advice, but I remain stumped. At first I thought, well, I guess they're just old, but because all three stopped at EXACTLY the same time and they are three different breeds I thought it was something else. None are broody. They no longer venture into the nest box. They have plenty of access to oyster shells. There is lots of fresh cool water available at all times. All three HAD been laying eggs regularly (a bit slower than when they were very young, but regulary none the less). They LOVE their goodies (oats, yogurt, melon, scratch, free-ranging, etc), but show little interest in their layer pellets. (I thought that the lack of interest in food may have been due to the warmer weather.) I have read a lot of information on why hens stop laying, but can't really find a scenario that applies. I guess sometimes it just happens! I'm wondering if something spooked them - maybe by stalking them on the outside of their tractor... Anyway, if I don't get any eggs in another week I'll try the coffee (that is, if I can bring myself to share - I do love MY coffee!) I've also read that hot peppers may stimulate egg production. Has anyone actually tried this?! PS (to HHandbasket) I had a RIR that stopped laying when she was two - very similar to your Barred Rock. She too was a loner and just did her own thing. Before she stopped, however, she regularly laid about 6 jumbo eggs/week. Then, her egg color changed from brown to white for about 15 eggs and after that she was done. She died a full year later (I think from complications due to sour crop). Very strange (and sad - I too love my girls, eggs or not!).
