Why Did They Stop Laying?

[AuroraSprings]

I started only feeding my Anconas what they could eat in the first 10-15 mins each morning. It's been about two weeks since I started that and this week I haven't gotten a single eggs. They were slowing down in the last month, but I thought they were just finishing up a molt from the heat. Now, I've got nothing. Any thoughts?

 

[StevenW.]

Maybe they are just takeing a break?
I'm not really much help on this but my ducks have stopped laying for a week then went back into laying an egg every 1 and 1/2 day.

 

[TexasAggieOfc]

Are you sure they're not hiding the eggs? Mine like to rotate their nests on a regular basis, just to keep me guessing... Need to put a game camera out there so I can spend less time on my own grown up easter egg hunt!

 

[AuroraSprings]

I'm sure they aren't hiding them, my dog hunts them down if they aren't safely laid in a nestbox (have to watch him close).Plus, they've never been very good at hiding them and they can't leave the coop at night. Any idea what happened?

 

[dixieland]

Our egg production has dropped off considerably in the past 3 weeks, but that being said we are heading into shorter days with less daylight. Also, several of our girls are molting right now....We have found that they slack off quite a bit in the fall/ winter if we do not introduce an artificial light source.....
Do you have any new stressors to them? ie- new birds, different feed, etc? That also seems to play a big part in egg production with our girls, most especially the Ameraucanas....

 

[AuroraSprings]

Well, ours are ducks,not chickens,but they molted this summer because of the heat. We did move to a new house, build them a new pasture/barn, cut their feed back & change it (though we did this slowly). Maybe it's just all the "newness" that stopped them. I wonder how long this break will take.

 

[TheBoonducks]

They didnt molt because of heat ducks do this every year to gain a winter coat after breeding season...

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

My egg production came to a halt in mid september. I have first year ducks that are 19 weeks and 27 weeks and the older girls had been producing for a month prior. I hadn't changed anything, but the days were getting shorter, I guess thats what tipped them off to stop laying. I quickly began putting the ducks away sooner with artificial light in their coop. As a result, with a combination of bumble foot stressing my fawn/white runner, my hybrid layers have continued to lay every day since and my runner has gotten over her foot problem and has begun to moult. I expect my last female duck to begin laying any day since she is over 19 weeks and a runner. Your birds will respond to light by laying once they are finished moulting and can use calcium for egg laying vs. growing feathers.

I think the moulting is a direct response to the changes your ducks have gone through recently along with the decreased daylight. I'd begin adding artificial light at the end of the days for a total of 14 hours of light so when they're done moulting they could have a better chance of resuming laying.

 

[animalpro24]

Quote:
Are you saying they need light to lay or no light?

 

[GrannyCarol]

They need about 14 hours of light every day to lay. Many ducks cut back in the fall.

Perhaps cutting back on quality feed has lowered the overall protein to the point where they aren't getting what they need to lay well? You can experiment by adding some sort of high protein feed for a week or two and see if they start laying again.