why would my hen have stopped laying in MAY?

[aubreynoramarie]

I do not understand it. I have five hens who are due to be a year old this month, yet i have never once gotten five eggs in one day. for a while last fall i was getting four eggs a day, but that went down to one or two during winter. I have two e.e.s, a delaware, a new hampshire, and a barred rock. My easter eggers faithfully lay me an egg every day, but the other three i am not certain. All of their egg colors are exactly the same so i cant tell for sure who is not laying. I know the new hampshire is laying because i saw her doing it yesterday. My barred rock sat in the nesting box for a couple of hours, then just hopped out without laying, and my Delaware i feel is never in the nesting box and perhaps isnt laying? I just dont understand why i get so few eggs....today i got two. Shouldnt production be up now that the days are longer? what can i do?

also, now that they are a year old, when can i expect a molt? a broody?

 

[CCourson05]

You can expect a molt anytime now. My polish are doing it right now. Terrible timing...

 

[BANTAMWYANDOTTE]

Maybe you will find my advice thread helpful in getting her started back.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=501018

 

[aubreynoramarie]

thanks a ton

 

[speckledhen]

They can take breaks most any time. I have a hen who is older than yours and stopped, but she suddenly is molting, feathers everywhere. They can stop in very hot weather, very cold weather, during stress, for their 9-10 month mini-molt, just for any reason. You can't force a hen to start laying again, but you can try to remove stressors that make them quit.

This thread may help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=423023

 

[elmo]

Nutrition and stress affect laying. So if I were you I'd reassess the nutritional quality of the flock's diet, and think about what stressors may be present on the flock. Do they have enough space, etc. Are the hens you suspect are not laying low in the pecking order?

 

[aubreynoramarie]

No, not low in the pecking order, in fact I'm not even certain I have a pecking order

no one picks in one another at all. I've had some new babies in a pen inside their run, maybe they're upset about that