Why have they stopped laying?

[Kyng]

I also just realized you said some went broody and haven't laid since then. If the weather turned after they finished raising their chicks that could also explain why they didn't start laying after being broody.

Didn’t raise any chicks, just went broody. But makes sense.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have gotten some good responses. I'll add my bit.

Chickens evolved to molt in the fall when days are getting shorter to replace worn-out feathers. They stop laying and use the nutrition that was going to make eggs to instead grow feathers. We just passed the winter solstice so the days have just stopped getting shorter in the northern hemisphere. Some pullets skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue laying until the following fall, but some do not skip the molt. Some hens and pullets that molt will resume laying whenever they finish the molt, others wait until the days get longer in the spring.

Each chicken is an individual, you can always get exceptions. But the vast majority of mature hens follow this pattern unless you manipulate the lighting so they can't tell the days are getting shorter. Pullets of the production breeds tend to skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue laying while others have more of a tendency to molt their first fall/winter. But each pullet is an individual and can vary wildly. With living animals like chickens it is not absolutely this or absolutely that, anything can happen.

Good luck!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

It’s not so cold here really, but the weather has changed. The chickens have not been laying. I get between 3-6 eggs on a good day when I was getting 11+
Some haven’t laid since they were broody months ago.
One chicken I found mites in her, treated them all, and her feathers have since started growing back - but no eggs.
I have 23 or 24, and maybe 16 are supposed to be laying
Can there be an explanation that I’m not aware of, or is it just the weather change?

It’s not weather! It’s not temperature!

It’s the number of hours of daylight each day, resulting from the tilt of the Earth’s north-south axis in regards to the Sun.

If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere (north of the equator), you are now in mid-winter. Yesterday, 10/21, was winter solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night and the shortest day of the year. (If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, you’re in mid-summer.)

Chickens are triggered by hours of (day)light to produce eggs. Not temperature, warmth or cold, but light. Whether it feels like it or not where you live, if you are in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is now coming! Every day after Dec 21, the sun will rise a little bit earlier, and set a little bit later, and that is what will get your girls laying again, even if it’s still cold.

Make sure that your chickens are getting optimal nutrition, especially if one has decided to molt at this awkward time (looking at YOU, Trudy!) Give them plenty of protein in their feed, with calcium (oyster shell) on the side, and allow them to come back from this natural break in their laying cycle, that gives them a well-deserved rest.

 

[kattabelly]

Every day after Dec 21, the sun will rise a little bit earlier, and set a little bit later

Almost - days will get slightly longer every day after the solstice, but the earliest sunset happens before the solstice and the latest sunrise doesn't happen until after.

 

[redinator]

Yesterday, 10/21,

Did you mean 12/21, if not I'm really confused

 

[Kyng]

Thank you all!!! This is my second year with chickens
Learning new things every day.