There’s a variety of reasons your chickens may have stopped laying eggs. Below are some possible explanations to check out and see if they apply to your flock.
Molting- My girls stop laying every year when it comes time for molting season. Molting is where they lose their old feathers and get in their new feathers. This happens about once per year. For my girls it happens in the fall about October/November. It can take anywhere from 2-4 months for them to finish. Supplementing your flock with extra protein can help grow back their feathers faster.
Too Hot Or Cold- Temperature extremes can affect your birds. Heat can be very stressful on the birds. And extreme cold takes a lot of energy to stay sufficiently warm.
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De-hydrated- A day without water can screw up a whole cycle of egg laying for your birds. Keep them well hydrated to keep that supply of eggs coming. They can also resort to eating their own eggs in order to obtain moisture.
Not Enough Light- Chickens lay eggs best when they have 12+ hours of light. Some people get around this by providing supplemental light in the coop.
Laying Elsewhere- If you free range your birds and start to see a lack of eggs. Take a look around to see if they are being laid elsewhere. I don’t generally have this problem with chickens that are already trained to the coop. But it could happen with young hens learning to lay eggs for the first time. You can try and re-train them by forcing them to stay in the coop for a couple of weeks and/or by removing other tempting nest sites like bushes, sheds, etc.
Age – Obviously young birds 5 months old and under will not lay eggs. But on the flipside, your hens can also get too old for egg laying. As a hen ages, you will see less and less eggs each year until they stop entirely.
Broody- It can be the most annoying thing to have a hen go broody as they will not lay eggs during this time. This is where hens try to hatch eggs. On the flip side, it can be convenient if you are trying to hatch chicks. But for the most part people just want the eggs. In this case you’ll want to do your best to snap them out of their broody cycle. Chickens can be broody for roughly 21+ days if you don’t step in. Take them out of the box, put them in a separate area where no box is available. If I have a hen go broody, I put them into my orchard area which has no nesting sites. After about 3 days they generally snap out of being broody and can go back to the flock.
Poor Diet- Laying eggs takes nutrients. Ensure that your hens are eating a proper diet. Hopefully this is more than just a balanced chicken feed. Chickens love to free range for bugs, eating plants, getting table scraps. The more variety the better.
Sick/Parasites/Stress- Make sure your girls are good and healthy. Stressed, bullied birds, parasites can cause a bird to not lay eggs. This can take some observation. Watch your hen to see if she’s getting bullied by others. Does she have healthy red to dark pink combs and wattles. Does she have an extra poopy bottom from diarrhea. Treat conditions accordingly.
Egg Eaters- This is unfortunately quite common and can be hard to catch sometimes. Things to look for are dirty beaks, dirty/sticky nesting box material, hens hovering over other hens laying eggs. Hens can be very good at cleaning up the evidence if you’re not on the scene quickly. If you’re able, it’s nice to have a coop camera to catch birds in the act.
Pests- In some areas, pests may be a problem like rats and snakes. Or if you live in places like Australia then goannas’ are a problem. Try to keep an eye out, and if you find you have rats or something, do your best to set up chicken safe traps. I set rat traps up for chipmunks that eat the chicken feed. I set them up at night and remove them before letting the chickens out of their coop for the day. I also have a rock wall with a little nook perfectly sized for the trap that the chickens can’t get to.
Hopefully this helps narrow down the reasons your chickens aren’t laying eggs so that you can get them back on track. Or in the case of older birds there’s either refreshing your stock or adding to your flock. Good Luck!
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