Stopped Laying????????

[kayaker69]

I've had my 4 Australorps for 2 1/2 years. They have always been great layers averaging about 3 to 4 eggs a day, EVERY day even through the winter here in North Carolina. All of a sudden for the last 2 months I'm only getting 0 to 1 egg a day. Some times it will go 2 days with NO eggs. I've checked every where possible for them to be secretly laying but I haven't found a single egg. The one egg I do get, they lay in the same box. I have an automatic door openner so they can come out of the coop at 7:00 every morning and roam my fenced in grass back yard. The yard is 100' by 125'. I don't use any chemicals on the lawn. They have 3 watering sites with plenty of shade all around the yard. Since they first started laying I feed them Purina Layena plus Omega 3. I have always added a small amount of food grade diatomaceous earth and a small amount of cinnamon to their feeders and about 1 Tblsp of vinegar to each gallon of water. Every other day I throw out some Purina scratch mixed with dried meal worms I get from Chubby meal worms. During the hot days I put out a thick slice of cold water mellon or plain yogurt a couple of times a week. I also have a small feeder with ground oyster shells (They never seem to eat any of it). I do not find them with mites and their poop is normal. They act and appear to be happy, healthy, normal chickens. I have no idea if it is the same chicken laying that one egg a day but I haven't had more than 1 egg a day since they stopped laying. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Farmgirl47]

It sounds like you are taking GREAT care of them, but as chickens get older their egg supply will just naturally dwindle.
It seems to me, that when our hens get to be about 2 years old their supply dramatically decreases (with exceptions, of course - all hens are different), which is why we usually eat them after 2-3 years (we always keep a couple favorites though). It is sad, yes, but money doesn't grow on trees.