Will stress cause hens to stop laying?!

[Debutante]

Our 19-week-old Dominique was the first of our flock to start laying and she had been reliably producing one little egg every day for the past three weeks. HOWEVER, we've had some construction people working in close proximity to the coop for the past few days and suddenly -- NO EGGS! I have a few questions:
1. Can short-term stress cause a hen to suddenly stop laying? (hopefully only temporarily)
2. If she is laying somewhere else (in the bushes or trees), will she come back to laying in the nest box once the construction crew has gone?
3. If one hen starts laying in the bushes or trees, will the other hens do so too? (We have seventeen other 22-week-old hens who are right on the verge of laying)!
4. Could the miserable cold and rainy weather and lower light be the cause of her going off-lay, not the construction crew?
Any info., thoughts, comments or educated guesses would be most welcome!

 

[Pork Pie]

To try and help contribute, here are my thoughts:

1. Can short-term stress cause a hen to suddenly stop laying? (hopefully only temporarily) - Yes
2. If she is laying somewhere else (in the bushes or trees), will she come back to laying in the nest box once the construction crew has gone? Not necessarily
3. If one hen starts laying in the bushes or trees, will the other hens do so too? (We have seventeen other 22-week-old hens who are right on the verge of laying)! That can happen
4. Could the miserable cold and rainy weather and lower light be the cause of her going off-lay, not the construction crew? The light issue, most certainly

 

[Debutante]

To try and help contribute, here are my thoughts:

1. Can short-term stress cause a hen to suddenly stop laying? (hopefully only temporarily) - Yes
2. If she is laying somewhere else (in the bushes or trees), will she come back to laying in the nest box once the construction crew has gone? Not necessarily
3. If one hen starts laying in the bushes or trees, will the other hens do so too? (We have seventeen other 22-week-old hens who are right on the verge of laying)! That can happen
4. Could the miserable cold and rainy weather and lower light be the cause of her going off-lay, not the construction crew? The light issue, most certainly

Thank you Ken! It looks like I'll be spending some time tomorrow searching for eggs under the bushes and trees. Arrrggghhh. :-(

 

[Pork Pie]

Thank you Ken! It looks like I'll be spending some time tomorrow searching for eggs under the bushes and trees. Arrrggghhh. :-(

If you have a means of confining your birds during the morning time, you may increase the chances of her laying in the nest boxes.