Why are my hens not laying? I have a theory. ><

[TheCluckyClucker2]

The first year, the chickens do not molt so they will keep laying. If you want to have eggs through the molt, you need to cycle in new chicks every year and cycle the older, non-laying hens into the soup pot so you do not get overwhelmed with nonproductive chickens.

No argument to someone who can do that but mine are pets. Even when they quit laying of old age they will have a home. I mean like every spring I make sure they all get baths. Stinkin' chickens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have three hens that are about a year and a half old ... they started molting in September and stopped laying eggs all together in early October. There hasn't been a single egg out of the three of them since then. I thought maybe they were too old to lay eggs (I have no idea how long a hen lives when it's a pet). They laid their first egg on Halloween 2020 and their last eggs the first week of October 2021. I do hope in the spring there will be more eggs.

You will most likely get more eggs come spring, but maybe not quite as prolific as before. But unlikely that they'd quit laying completely this early.

 

[Lizzy733]

From what I've heard, they do have legitimate reasons to not be in lay. One, the daylight hours are a bit too low and two, they are not pullets - which tend to lay through their first winter. This is the norm for adult hens once the days get shorter. - temp is irrelevant to them in regards to egg production.

Now is a good time for their bodies to recover from breeding season, feathers to refresh, and recover the nutrients they expended on egg production. They'd likely appreciate some extra protein to help regrow those lost feathers too.

 

[epctfstacks]

Yep. I love em'. Whole reason I started with Cochin Bantams was because they were small, fluffy, and those feet!

I love to watch them run. With the feathers on their feet, mine look like they are running with their pantaloons falling down. So funny! Seriously, I do get joy when I open the back door and they come running...

 

[bruceha2000]

Yes, fourteen to sixteen hours of light daily is necessary, especially after that first pullet year.

BUT!
There also has to be some factor related to increasing light each day. Mine start back up mid-late February. We don't have 12 hours of sunlight until mid March.

I have three hens that are about a year and a half old ... they started molting in September and stopped laying eggs all together in early October. There hasn't been a single egg out of the three of them since then. I thought maybe they were too old to lay eggs (I have no idea how long a hen lives when it's a pet). They laid their first egg on Halloween 2020 and their last eggs the first week of October 2021. I do hope in the spring there will be more eggs.

They will start laying in a few months. 1.5 years is still a young chicken (unless it is a Cornish Cross and managed to elude the butcher, then it is an OLD bird).

You can check out the hens in my signature and do the math. They all laid, to some extent, this year except the 6 that were hatched in June. I expect them to start sometime in the next month. The other girls will start up (to some extent depending on the bird and age ) in late February.

 

[Garry A]

So I have a flock of three hens and a rooster. I have not got any eggs for 2 weeks. Part of it is probably because our temperature changed so fast, it went from the 80s to the 40s in a matter of 2-3 days. However they quit when it was still warm. First let me give you the recent backstory of each hen.

1. Plum - Recently recovered from being broody, then was picked on by flock and separated. Layed 1 egg. Still has small comb but again has layed 1 egg in the past 3-4 months. Why did she lay an egg and quit?

2. Bubblegum - Molting, I do not expect her to lay eggs as she is quite scraggly. Her comb has gotten a lot smaller and is now pink instead of red.

3. Sky - Perfect health, big comb, she is the main question as to why I have got no eggs at all. none.

I have been supplement with oyster shells and they have layer feed. Two nesting boxes and I have a golf ball in one. Now, here are my theories.

1. Eating the eggs?

2. Cold weather?

3. 2 hens not expected to lay and 1 lazy hen?

So is the one hen not laying because the other two are not, and the 2 have reason. However the third does not. Why did Plum lay one egg and no more? Should I be doing some thing different? I have had them eat eggs before and fixed it with mustard, vinegar, and a dot of dish soap in a blown egg. I can put this in there and see. I live in Conway County, AR but I do not want to give any more location than that for safety reasons. It was 29 degrees farenheit this morning when I came to school at roughly 7:50 so that kind of tells you how cold it is. What should I do? Thanks for reading this long read!

I have found if you want to get eggs all year round then you need a mixture in your flock of Autumn born and Spring born hens however daylight hours do have an affect as well.

 

[Folly's place]

Here we add a few pullets at least every other year, and so there's always some egg production happening. We do have space for them!
Many laying hens are 'falling apart' by three years of age, sadly, so losses do occur too.
Mary

 

[TheCluckyClucker2]

We only have a small coop so we can only keep 4-6 Bantams.

 

[Cheryl2274]

So I have a flock of three hens and a rooster. I have not got any eggs for 2 weeks. Part of it is probably because our temperature changed so fast, it went from the 80s to the 40s in a matter of 2-3 days. However they quit when it was still warm. First let me give you the recent backstory of each hen.

1. Plum - Recently recovered from being broody, then was picked on by flock and separated. Layed 1 egg. Still has small comb but again has layed 1 egg in the past 3-4 months. Why did she lay an egg and quit?

2. Bubblegum - Molting, I do not expect her to lay eggs as she is quite scraggly. Her comb has gotten a lot smaller and is now pink instead of red.

3. Sky - Perfect health, big comb, she is the main question as to why I have got no eggs at all. none.

I have been supplement with oyster shells and they have layer feed. Two nesting boxes and I have a golf ball in one. Now, here are my theories.

1. Eating the eggs?

2. Cold weather?

3. 2 hens not expected to lay and 1 lazy hen?

So is the one hen not laying because the other two are not, and the 2 have reason. However the third does not. Why did Plum lay one egg and no more? Should I be doing some thing different? I have had them eat eggs before and fixed it with mustard, vinegar, and a dot of dish soap in a blown egg. I can put this in there and see. I live in Conway County, AR but I do not want to give any more location than that for safety reasons. It was 29 degrees farenheit this morning when I came to school at roughly 7:50 so that kind of tells you how cold it is. What should I do? Thanks for reading this long read!

They might be stressed. 1 rooster should have more than 3 hens. I have four hens and 1 rooster, and one of my hens has stopped laying too. I'm almost 100% she is just stressed because of his "needs". But it depends on the rooster. So watch him. If he has to chase them to mount them, they are probably being mounted too often, and would like some more 'sisters' to share the load.

 

[Jibblett]

So I have a flock of three hens and a rooster. I have not got any eggs for 2 weeks. Part of it is probably because our temperature changed so fast, it went from the 80s to the 40s in a matter of 2-3 days. However they quit when it was still warm. First let me give you the recent backstory of each hen.

1. Plum - Recently recovered from being broody, then was picked on by flock and separated. Layed 1 egg. Still has small comb but again has layed 1 egg in the past 3-4 months. Why did she lay an egg and quit?

2. Bubblegum - Molting, I do not expect her to lay eggs as she is quite scraggly. Her comb has gotten a lot smaller and is now pink instead of red.

3. Sky - Perfect health, big comb, she is the main question as to why I have got no eggs at all. none.

I have been supplement with oyster shells and they have layer feed. Two nesting boxes and I have a golf ball in one. Now, here are my theories.

1. Eating the eggs?

2. Cold weather?

3. 2 hens not expected to lay and 1 lazy hen?

So is the one hen not laying because the other two are not, and the 2 have reason. However the third does not. Why did Plum lay one egg and no more? Should I be doing some thing different? I have had them eat eggs before and fixed it with mustard, vinegar, and a dot of dish soap in a blown egg. I can put this in there and see. I live in Conway County, AR but I do not want to give any more location than that for safety reasons. It was 29 degrees farenheit this morning when I came to school at roughly 7:50 so that kind of tells you how cold it is. What should I do? Thanks for reading this long read!

My 5 chickens 1 1/2 years old slowed down I. Aug from 5 eggs a day to 1 a week stopped all together sept oct added light bought additive to water to stimulate egg laying backed off in bread and veggies and started laying slowly 1-3 eggs a week???