sudden stop of ALL hens laying eggs

[sourland]

Decreasing day length, the molt, attempted attacks by hawks or other preds., change of diet, introduction of new birds, any change of environment or a host of other factors can all affect egg laying. Right now I'd bet on : the molt, decreasing day length, and the unbearable heat at least around here on the East coast.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

I'm going to suggest extra protein. To all of you. Cat or dog food, even beef, pork. The girls love beef. Stop giving scratch and corn cut the carbs add protein and please let me know if you get an increase in production.
Erica

 

[sheila3935]

First off look for new nest. I have 8 that are laying. Was getting 7 eggs a day then day before yesterday 4 and yesterday 5 this morning I saw one go into the duck house. Looked later and found 8 eggs. I thought maybe something stessed them or the days shortening had something to do with it but it was just a new nest

 

[nanawendy]

I agree... Look for another nest. I found 11 one day after stewing for a week. You don't mention your where abouts. Could the lessening of light be an issue?

 

[suzannaski]

I'll try the cat food, and we are being watched daily by a hawk- I didn't think the hawk would have such an impact, actually.
Also, the last egg she laid was a bluer tint than her usual pale green eggs. I wonder if its because I gave them tomatoes one day?
Oh, and she tends to eat the grower crumbles (unmedicated) for my 2 month olds, as well as the layer pellets. I thought crumbles would have ample protein. Wish I hadn't thrown out the bag so I could read the ingredients.

 

[jemmasgrandma]

same here, I have 14 that should be laying, but only getting 4 to 6 eggs a day for the last 4 weeks

 

[tdgill]

after missing eggs for about a week from just one hen in particular, the answer appeared in the form of feathers! A couple here and there were not enough of a clue for me. I had to worry and search for eggs until yesterday when it looked like someone had a pillow fight in the backyard! She's 19 months old and apparently molting. hahahah

ETA: maybe your hens are getting ready to molt

 

[PegramPoultryProprietor]

Looks like I'm not alone with the egg production down. I've gone from 18 + a day to about 4. I'm betting the daylight is the main reason. I do have a few more owls hanging out making noise in the morning, but these birds are use to something or another trying to get in at night. Everybody seems fine and alert, eating like there is no tomorrow, and mostly sitting around all puffed up as the temp has been cooler. I'm tempted to put a light in the coop and start waking them up earlier, but that would defeat the goal of having happy unmanipulated birds. I was just being able to break even on egg sales and feed bills!

 

[calicokat]

I have been getting only 2 a day since July!

One gal is broody, raising chicks, but I have 2 "teens" that had just started laying, plus 3 mature hens who are just "laying down on the job"! Now they are starting to molt, but that doesn't explain why no eggs since July. And believe me, I've looked for alternate nests - my Annabelle has a long track record of that stunt

But nothing. And by now, they'd have rotted and exploded, so we'd have found them one way or another.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My story is about the same, but on a much larger scale. About 3 weeks ago, they all went on strike. After a few days of it, I was seriously thinking about getting a few leghorns with my next order. I had to take my sign down and I have had to refuse a few customers.
Well I got to race through my mind and I remembered hearing (and it may not be true) that the secret ingredient in layers pellets was a milk base and I also remembered reading about a natural remedy for 'no eggs' being corn soaked in cayanne pepper, so I cooked some of my stock pile of corn grits in water, mixed with a good amount of non-fat, dry milk........also from my stock pile and mixed some cayanne peppers from my garden.....fresh. After about 3 days of this, I had 3 eggs. I also sometimes add about 12 ounces of dogfood on top of this for extra protein. One day I went up to 5 eggs. Its holding @ least me over.
I'm gonna blame the heat. Its really hot here. So I guess nature will solve the problem for me soon enough. In the meanwhile, I will give my chickens extra nourishment, to help them through this problem.
Late next month I will start raising broilers and I was really thinking on getting some leghorns to raise with them, so I can avoid this problem in the future, to at least some degree. I am dangerous when I think like that. This place can seriously become over-run with chickens if I don't exercise some control over my thoughts.