They have QUIT laying????

[fishnet1971]

I have two one year old Cochins, one EE one year old, and 4 RSL 2 years old, one RSL who knows how old. I am now getting 1 egg a day!!!!! All are healthy. One or two looks like they are starting a molt. All but one have bright red combs. All are eating and drinking well. Nothing spooking them.

Two weeks ago they pretty much stopped laying! I have searched for alternative laying spots. Nothing.

Any clues here? is this normal?????

 

[BuffOrpington88]

It is likely that they are going into a molt, although they may be molting very slowly.

 

[terryg]

It's molting season, when most of your hens will stop laying and look scruffy. (More about the molt here: http://hencam.com/faq/the-molt) As your chickens age, egg production drops and each year the molt takes longer. Each year, too, you'll have fewer eggs. How many will depend on many factors including the breed of the hen, housing, weather and health. The best layers lay 20% fewer eggs in the second year, others far less. "Real" farmers don't keep laying hens past 18 months of age - the rest of us have hens in retirement! (I have a number of ancient hens and write about their care on by blog.)

 

[Happy Chooks]

They cannot lay while they molt. Feathers are mostly protein and they need all their protein stores to replace their feathers. Even once their feathers are in, then they have to build their body weight back up before they can start laying again. You can increase their protein in the feed, or by supplementing with meat scraps, tuna, cat food (small amounts as it has a lot of sodium), mealworms, BOSS, etc.

Hens will molt at different rates, but the average I've noticed is 3 months. Some are a little quicker, some a little slower. You may also notice an increase in egg size once they start back up again.

 

[fishnet1971]

I checked them pretty good this morning and am seeing one or two new feathers coming in, so I wonder if that's exactly what it is. They are a bit 'cranky' too. I have been adding mealworms, boss, and some canned cat food that the spoiled brat cat wont eat just for the two that have had a hard raty looking molt. so that should help. I am still just goint to tell DH that they are old and I need new babies. (good way to get more girls!!!!!) They did lay for me all winter the last two years, so I wondering if I just made them work to hard and they have retired on me. Still love them and they will still be spoiled daily. geeze,.... not carrying their own weight... for shame.