Stopped laying

[chickenjoe24]

I have 2 black Australorps, 2 black and silver laced Wyandottes, and 2 starlight green eggers. They were all purchased at the same time and are 1 years old now. They have access to the same amount of food and sunlight and have plenty of nesting boxes (6). They get sunlight from 6 am to 9pm and egg production has slowed. One of the starlight green eggers stopped laying right before winter and has not started again and I am wondering if it could be from the pecking order (she seems to be at the bottom). Additionally, the other Starlight green egger has became broody in the last week and has not laid in that time and I think one of the Australorps has stopped laying as well. They only have one feeder they all use so I am wondering if they need more feeders/watering holes or if there is something else I am missing. They were all laying a good amount (4-6/day) but that has slowed immensely as of recently. Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[Livia Ammon]

My chickens slowed down on laying recently, and it was because they had mites. I’d check for those if I were you. Other than that, I don’t know enough to tell.

 

[chickenjoe24]

thank you. i’ll look tmrw for mites

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

Some reasons egg production drops. These generally apply to individual hens, not the entire flock.

The molt. Typically they molt in the fall when the days get shorter but a chicken can molt at other times for many different reasons. This might be a full molt or a partial molt. Are you seeing feathers flying around?

Are they hiding a nest? This one is really common. Even if they do not have a lot of access to outside areas they can be really good at hiding nests in coops or small runs.

Is something getting the eggs. Different critters will take the eggs. Many leave signs like broken eggshells or wet spots but snakes, canines, and humans do not leave any sign behind. Since it is consistent it is probably not a snake. A snake eats eggs and then disappears for a couple of days while it digests them before it comes back for more. So probably not a snake.

Not sure where you are located so not sure what animals you have but many canines like fox or coyote would probably be more interested in your hens, but a dog can ignore your hens and eat eggs. Does a dog have access?

A human does not necessarily mean a stranger, especially if it is consistent. It could be someone you know very well.

During the heat of summer or a cold snap in winter production can drop.

Changing their living area like moving them to a new coop or remodeling their existing coop can cause a drop in production. Changes in the pecking order like adding or removing chickens can affect laying. Chickens often don't like change.

Predator attacks or scares or things like mites can cause stress which can affect laying.

So what can you do? If yours free range or have access to larger areas try locking them in the coop or coop/run for a few days and see if production increases. You may have stopped them from going to a hidden nest or locked out an egg eating predator.

Discretely mark a couple of eggs and leave them down there. If they disappear something is getting the eggs.

Good luck! This kind of stuff can be really frustrating.

 

[chickenjoe24]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

Some reasons egg production drops. These generally apply to individual hens, not the entire flock.

The molt. Typically they molt in the fall when the days get shorter but a chicken can molt at other times for many different reasons. This might be a full molt or a partial molt. Are you seeing feathers flying around?

Are they hiding a nest? This one is really common. Even if they do not have a lot of access to outside areas they can be really good at hiding nests in coops or small runs.

Is something getting the eggs. Different critters will take the eggs. Many leave signs like broken eggshells or wet spots but snakes, canines, and humans do not leave any sign behind. Since it is consistent it is probably not a snake. A snake eats eggs and then disappears for a couple of days while it digests them before it comes back for more. So probably not a snake.

Not sure where you are located so not sure what animals you have but many canines like fox or coyote would probably be more interested in your hens, but a dog can ignore your hens and eat eggs. Does a dog have access?

A human does not necessarily mean a stranger, especially if it is consistent. It could be someone you know very well.

During the heat of summer or a cold snap in winter production can drop.

Changing their living area like moving them to a new coop or remodeling their existing coop can cause a drop in production. Changes in the pecking order like adding or removing chickens can affect laying. Chickens often don't like change.

Predator attacks or scares or things like mites can cause stress which can affect laying.

So what can you do? If yours free range or have access to larger areas try locking them in the coop or coop/run for a few days and see if production increases. You may have stopped them from going to a hidden nest or locked out an egg eating predator.

Discretely mark a couple of eggs and leave them down there. If they disappear something is getting the eggs.

Good luck! This kind of stuff can be really frustrating.

thank you i’ll have to try some of these