stopped laying

[singinfree]

My 2.5 year old astlorps have stopped laying is this normal are they at the end of there egg laying life and also my 6 9 month old golden comets are only laying a few eggs per week any thoughts

wayne

 

[TinyBirds]

Don't worry - I think it's just this time of year. Mine aren't laying much either right now. If you want to try and get them to lay more (if you need more eggs) then you could put a light in the coop with a timer so they're only getting 10 hrs of dark max each night. It's good for them to have some dark time, but without 14 hrs of light they start laying less. I haven't tried the lights since we don't really eat that many eggs anyway and it's nice for them to have a break from laying. The older birds are likely molting, so they stop laying eggs to put all their energy into growing new feathers.

 

[Imp]

What TinyBirds said

At 2 1/2 yo those hens are going to start slowing down. That's about the age. They won't stop laying just lay less.
I have a 5+yo GLW that still lays the occasional egg.

Russ