Backyard Poultry. Nutritionist, Companion Animal Technical Solutions. Drink coffee. Collect farm fresh eggs from your backyard flock. As the days become shorter and temperatures drop, you may notice fewer eggs when you go out to the chicken coop. Hens might take a short vacation from laying eggs and the reasons range from life stage to when the sun rises and sets.
Some of these reasons are natural while others can be fixed with simple changes. Then, before you go looking for an egg thief, here are five factors to consider that can affect egg production: Daylight The first and most common cause of decreased egg production is light hours. Hens need a minimum of 16 hours of daylight to sustain strong production. Without supplemental light, they may naturally stop laying eggs due to a hormonal response as the days get shorter. Hens lay best when provided at least 16 hours of day light, whether natural, artificial or a combination of the two.
I have fed organic layer pellets consistently since they were 18 weeks old. Fresh water,free ranging and I offer oyster shell free choice. They are probably laying their eggs outside somewhere, mine do that at times…. I lock them in run for a few days again to teach them where to lay again…….
Her comb is pale but she has no signs of illness. She only started laying in July. Any ideas? Hi Elise, Is she still broody now? Let me know! Parasites: This includes lice, mites and worms. The easiest way to treat any parasite it to spray both the chicken coop and the chickens with a poultry cleaner.
Something like Johnsons Poultry Housing spray should do the trick. You can put apple cider vinegar in there drinking water every day and it works well and is good for them… It even helps when they get runny poops etc…. Try diatomaceous earth, get the white kind, it is sold at the tractor supply store in large bags and it can be mixed with there food.
Sprinkle it around any areas that they hang around and especially in there coop, inside the coop needs to be dusted well and it is natural and not a chemical spray which is bad for there lungs as their respiratory system is very sensitive, please stay away from sprays and add apple cider vinegar to there water and they will be like new in no time…. Please research this.
Please, please, please! They have fresh water, layer feed, access to forage in the yard, and no new chickens have been introduced.
They stopped molting a month ago and still nothing. They were always pretty reliable. They are only 2 years old and are mixed breeds. Was wondering what you think might be the problem and what we can do about it. Hi Cody, Thank you for getting in touch. How much daylight do they get at the moment? Also how much protein is in their layer feed? Thanks for getting back to me.
They get around 8 hours of light or so this time of year. It is the same layer feed we have had them on since they started laying a couple of years ago. Let me know how they get on…. Thanks for the tips! It has been slow but we are finally getting around 6 or so eggs a day.
A low number but better than nothing. Thanks again! Hie l have 15 hens in my back yard nut l pick only 2. If you need the egg supply you could consider fitting an artificial light in their coop. Our hens started getting broody, and we wanted more so we let them sit on the eggs and hatch. We then removed the rooster so that we could get unfertilized eggs again and have opened them up to roam freely with the sheep free range.
They all look healthy and the chicks are staying with the mothers, however we have now stopped getting eggs? Is this because they have chicks? Hi Eric, How recently have the chicks hatched? She will need a few weeks after hatching the chicks and she will be back to normal!
I have 12hens and one rooster I was getting eggs a day now I live in Blanchard ok we have a light on in the hen house and every thing else you have mentioned however their feathers on their backs are gone what causes this?
Hi Robin, Sounds to me like they could be molting! How long have their feather on their back been missing for? Do chickens stop laying when the nest get full? We were on vacation for two weeks and returned to 3 full nests. We have not gotten any new eggs since we returned. Hmmmm this is a really interesting question Julia. They get light and a good feed, so what could be the problem? Out of my flock of 7, 6 are young and they seemed to stop laying. We get one egg every other day from one of our Americana but that is it.
They free range from 8am-dusk they will go in the coop the coop is clean, fresh water and food daily…. Hi Jennie, How long have they not been laying eggs for? Have you changed their feed recently?
Appear to be very healthy and not broody. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! We feed them layers mash every day and they always have water. We have a large garden and we let them wander every day so they feel free, can find their own food and so on.
One laid every day then stopped. It stopped laying while we were away for a week and the mother in law took over from us. The in laws keep their own completely free range hens next door to us including boys! Sitting outside their basket for hours on end. Day after day. My wife let the girls out one day and left them all morning. Who knows what sweet nothings that Cockerel managed to share! They are constantly surrounded by daylight and we are moving into summer here now.
Hi I have 5 hens and only 1 laying , we got them from a friend and they were all laying , when I got them they started molting that was 3 months ago , I had to buy fake eggs to see if it would work and only getting 1 egg a day and or sometimes every other day!!! Theses hens are spoiled!!!!! I have read all of the comments and the post and I cannot find anything that fits my hens problem. Could that have something to do with it? There all eating well and have water and cleaness and no signs of sickness… I would appreciate anything you can help me with!
Hi Trina, It sounds like there has been a lot of changes to the coop recently! Hi Tami, This is very normal and nothing to worry about. Aloha from Kamuela, Hawaii. I have RR Chickens. They laid about 20 in a nest and one of the hens sat on the nest for about 2q days. However yesterday she was not there and there are no eggs now?
What happened to all the eggs? Hi Pono, It sounds like a predator could have eaten the eggs- is there any signs of intrusion into the coop? Then I borrowed a silky that hatched 3 more. I had 30 sold seven, 23 left plus 3 more babies back to My one hen is walking with open beak. You mentioned that , it is because of cold. Rainy season here. Any medicine for that? I have 7 layers — used to get eggs a day. Now we are getting maybe 1 a day. They get water and fed pellets oyster shell and granite.
And free range in the afternoon and all day on weekends. We got them Easter of Hi Amy, It sounds like you might have a feather plucker in your flock- either that or mites.
Today she looks really down and is spending time on her own. Normally they hang around together and she normally runs over to me when I step out in the morning?? Thanks Kirsty. Then make sure to keep them warm, and put electrolytes into their water.
If she continues to get worse visit your vet and get some antibiotics, Claire. I have two laying hens, about 3 years old, that have stopped laying. For the past 2 weeks they have been fed laying feed. Otherwise they are fine and spoiled. Hi David, If they both stopped laying at the same time then it sounds like it was due to the non-laying feed. I would put them on a high protein layer feed for a few weeks to make sure they have enough protein in their body and then I expect they will start laying again.
My flock was attached by a fox on May 9…one of the two remaining chickens stopped laying. Plenty of food, water ect.. I have contributed her lack of production to shock. Do you think she will ever lay again? Hi Kate, So sorry to hear about your loss.
If there was no physical damage to her- providing you give her plenty of food, water, love and time then with some luck she will start to lay again. I have 3 hybrid hens that are about 10 months old. They are in a large run most of the time, but free range for an hour a day too many foxes to allow longer. They are fed layer pellets, greens, fruit and have access to clean water and grit. A few weeks before that, she went through a phase of laying several soft eggs at once. The weather here has been very wet.
Any thoughts on what her problem is? Many thanks. Hi Lila, Soft eggs shells is normally a sign of calcium deficiency. Thank you for your reply. They have oyster shell in the mixed grit that I give them.
I have one hen that is sitting in the nesting box. It is summer time where I live and I am only getting three eggs a day. My ameraucanas and road island reds are less than a year old about six months. The mixed breed are about two years old. I am wondering why I am only getting three eggs a day. Thank you, TwinCity Do your best to keep them cool and well hydrated and then when the temperature drops they will continue to lay eggs. Claire, Thank you. I have been freezing milk jugs and putting them out in the water dish and changing the water every 4 hours or until the water jugs melt.
Is there anything else I can do to keep them cool? We have had our chickens for 6 weeks. One laid an egg every other day fora totalof 2 eggs after first arriving.
Since then, nothing. We feed them the same stuff as the previous owners and plenty of it along with plenty of water. Both chickens have laid before They are less than 1 year old. My wife and I havedecided these chickens will not get any more feed after this bag runs out. They can forage or we will have to find new homes.
This has been such a pain. Has anyone else had this problem for so long? Also, you need to make sure that they feed they have is a high protein pellet for laying hens. I am SO frustrated.
I have 5 beautiful girls. They are 2 years old and have been good layers and lovely girls. This spring they were laying eggs per day for about a month and then went down to eggs per day. They get layer feed, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, whole corn, watermelon, peaches, apples, and snacks of crickets and occasional tuna. They appear healthy, red waddles and combs, poop is great. I treated them with Garden and poultry dust and throughly cleaned the coup, the roosts and every nook and crevice got dusted and all clean wood shavings.
I would be interested to know if anyone else from the The Happy Chicken Coop community has any suggestions? Hi I have two hens. Henrietta Ranger was laying but then dropped a few very soft eggs and then stopped all together.
She has the right food layers , let out to forage most days, clean water, grit and oyster shell, tried tonic and ACV. Mildred Bluebell lays every day same environment and food. Anything else I can do? Many thanks, Rob. Hi Rob, It sounds like she has everything she needs to be laying eggs. How old is Henrietta- it sounds like she could be getting old and will naturally start to lay less eggs.
I have four hens that I keep on an allotment, which is fenced off and foxed proofed with a coop. Nope, in fact we are down to one egg every other day. They are let out early and the coop shut after they have wandered in of their own accord. I realise that they are not battery hens and I did realise that they would tail off, but they came almost to a complete stop when they were 1y9m old. They will be left to live out their life, and I am thinking of getting another four, but in less than two years, I do not want to be left with 8 non laying hens to look after, I do actually want some fresh eggs from them.
Hi Alastair, Wow your hens certainly are well looked after! Sometimes hens, especially hybrids, lay a huge amount of eggs during their first two years and then rarely lay anymore. They have been breed this way for battery farming. No, she looked fine yesterday morning, maybe a sign was she went for the water first rather than the food, but they sometimes do that during the summer.
Went to let them out this morning and she was still there, but dead. My hens have been consistently laying 5 eggs a day. Last week we changed their coop around a little — put new straw in and fenced off an area so that they can consistently have more free roaming space as I used to only let them out into my garden for about 2 hours a day due to my dog. Hi Shelley, Changes in their environment can stop them laying.
Is the problem that they only have about 9 and half hours in the paddock? I bought 15 Rhode islands hatched April 29th.
Will they stop laying 2 months later in their first winter?? Hi Brock, They will definitely slow down with their laying but hopefully not stop completely! The only time they will stop completely is during their first molt. Hi I went on holiday last week for a week. My mother in law looked after my chickens and i showed her everything I usually do.
How long should I leave her before worrying. Though it sounds like she might be egg bound- I would check her for this. I bought 12 chicks from my local feed store and they are around 5 months. A few just recently started laying small eggs so I bought some oyster shell crumble to help with the laying.
We have been getting roughly around 2 eggs so far a day, but nothing for the past couple of days. Should I just wait? Am I rushing? I also noticed ground squirrels so I put a couple of smoke bombs in the holes and covered them up really good. So is is September in upstate NY. My three Sex linked goldens normally lay an egg a day, but the last two days have not been doing so, or if they have, they hid them normally they free range all day. Is it too cold or too dark, do you suppose?
The daylight is rapidly disappearing and my hens have also started to slow down their egg laying. We just bought 6 girls. They were laying when we got them and now they are not. If laying hens are receiving proper management, the most common reason for reduction of lay is a reduction of light.
The reproductive state of all birds is strongly regulated by the amount of light that they receive each day. If hens are to maintain a constant state of egg production, they must be subjected to at least 16 hours of light every day. This light can be provided from sunlight, artificial light sources, or a combination. When the day length is increasing between December 21 and June 21, the birds are stimulated into an increased reproductive state, but between June 21 and December 21, the reverse occurs and the birds cease to produce eggs.
These effects produce the natural breeding seasons for birds in a natural environment. The recommended rule of lighting for pullets and hens is: "Never increase light on growing birds, but never decrease light on mature laying hens.
The recommended day length is hours daily. The minimum light intensity is 1 foot-candle or sufficient light to clearly see the level of feed while standing over the feeder.
The stimulatory color of light is a yellow or orange that approximates the spectrum of sunlight. Even in an enclosed run, hens will sometimes quit laying in the nesting boxes and instead start hiding their eggs in an effort to collect a 'clutch' to sit on and hatch. Last summer, our egg production went down, and I thought it was the heat until I found their "stash" of 14 eggs half-buried under a bush in the run!
Chickens like to find out-of-the-way places to lay their eggs, so check under and behind bushes, shrubs, anything else you have in your run they could use as cover. Sometimes you have to learn to choose your battles, and if I find our chickens starting to lay elsewhere than the coop, I will set up an outdoor nesting box or basket for them. As long as it's out of the way and they're happy, at least I know where to check for missing eggs.
A hen lays best during the first two to four years of her life. Her productivity will drop after that, but well-cared for, healthy hens can continue to lay for years after that, although at a far slower pace.
Continuing to add new chicks or pullets to your flock each spring ensures a constant supply of hens at prime egg-laying age. A calm, stress-free hen is a good laying hen. Any stresser, such as a barking dog, traffic noise, being bullied by another hen , children chasing them, etc. Remember, a hen is laying her egg with the ultimate goal of it hatching into a chick.
She won't be happy laying in an environment she doesn't feel is safe for a chick to grow up. Try to reduce any outside stresses as much as possible and create a calm oasis for your hens.
Adding some dried lavender, chamomile and other calming herbs is thought to help. Before you despair and start to think that getting a hen to actually lay an egg is about as rare as a blue moon, remember that she is programmed to lay an egg about once every 26 hours. So anything you can do to make it easier for her and to help her in that venture is going to quickly result in increased productivity.
Available from Amazon. Available from Chewy. Articles may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy. Shorter days, molting, age and stress can all put a stop to egg production.
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