…… Chickens stopped laying

[Border Collie Dad]

My chickens haven't given me any eggs in about a month.

I have 3 laying hens a little over a year old.
Also, have 3 that are too young until around the 1st of the year.
These are all Slow Whites.

They have free choice feed.
I feed Kalmbach Non GNO layer pellets.

Supplemental light from 4 PM-6 PM.
60 watt incandescent soft white.
Most times they free range.
I may keep them inside their fence in case they found a new place to lay.
They like to hang with the goats.

I can't find any sign they're eating them.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Greenspode]

It happens, usually around this time of year as the days are nearing the shortest hours of daylight of the year. They may be laying in some secret spot, but they also may just not be laying right now. They will start again! They always do, in my experience.

 

[West]

At night, do you have a game camera on the outside of the coops most likely area for wildlife to harass chickens.

Our stopped laying too. But it's just that time of year. Why we pickle eggs and sometimes buy eggs. Even with 6+ laying hens.

Do you have a roster?

 

[Samuel Adams]

We get a huge slowdown every year about this time.

We do nothing of an artificial nature to prevent this or to speed up their seasonal recycling, as it were.

Those sunny, lengthening days of later January see a resurgence that absolutely gets out of hand by mid-April.

60 birds, give of take…..

 

[Sherrynboo]

I have 9 hens and am only getting one egg a day right now. If they are molting they don't lay either but mine are done with that now. The will pick back up when the days start getting longer.

 

[OhioBull]

We have 12 and I only get 1-2 a day this time of year. It’s normal.

 

[ibetiny]

I have 10 and am still getting 8-10 a day. It is getting to the low 20's at night. I am still new enough that I can't tell you why, sorry.

 

[Broken Arrow]

I found that when mine slowed down that giving them a protein boost helped them get going again. I would soak kitten chow/kitten food with buttermilk and they would chow it down. If they got that every other day for a few times, their production would ramp up.

 

[Border Collie Dad]

Do you have a roster?

A young one, about 3 months old.
I got rid of my old rooster when I butchered a couple months ago.

Thanks for the responses.
Last year, IIRC, I had only a little drop off.

Do you think having the light in the evening is better or worse than having it in the morning?
Or would it be no different?

Broken Arrow, I could try some cat food

At night, do you have a game camera on the outside of the coops most likely area for wildlife to harass chickens

I do not but mine are shut in every night

 

[phloydius]

Mine slow down during this time a year, but still generally produce pretty good -- but that can vary depending on your latitude. With your supplemental light is this years production different for you than previous years?

As the hens get older (past 2 years of age) they seem to produce less over the winter than previous years.

Other things to look at that can cause low egg production:
- Old processed food (or food that is growing mold) like pellets. Try changing the food to a new bag.
- A drop in the protein they are eating, especially with less bugs in the fall & winter. Feed supplemental free choice protein.
- A predator harassing the hens causing high stress, try to identify it via a camera.
- Eggs actually being laid somewhere else, or eggs being stolen by a snake or rats.
- Not enough grit in the diet, offer free choice grit that is not oyster shell.
- Not enough calcium in the diet, offer free choice oyster shell. (You should have both grit and oyster shell).
- A gut imbalance, add 1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar per gallon of drinking water for a while (a week or so).
- Hens starting to molt or go broody. Typically a problem with only part of a flock not the whole flock. However with 3 birds it could be that but the time of the year is probably not the right time for it.

 

[Dobbin]

Owner has 14 layers and right now Wife says she gets 3-5 per day. They have used a light but are not using right now. The Wife explains "Chickens are made with a finite number of eggs - if you get them all fast at the beginning, then there are none for later.

Dobbin

 

[West]

Perhaps a big chopping log and a ax stuck in it, with this nailed to the side of coop or make a flag for the coop.....

 

[Cyclonemom]

I supplement light from 5A to 10P. They need a minimum of 14 hours a day. Since our winters are almost always very cloudy, I just supplement regardless. They are laying just fine with that.

 

[poppy]

A young one, about 3 months old.
I got rid of my old rooster when I butchered a couple months ago.

Thanks for the responses.
Last year, IIRC, I had only a little drop off.

Do you think having the light in the evening is better or worse than having it in the morning?
Or would it be no different?

Broken Arrow, I could try some cat food

I do not but mine are shut in every night

They do not molt until they are a year old. That is why production doesn't drop much the first year. Molting can take from about 3 weeks up to over 2 months depending on the chicken.

 

[Hfcomms]

Mine are still laying well. I just have a light in the coop that comes on at 7am just so I can get inside to clean and fill the feeder. Some do recommend a supplemental light in the coop to give them 14 to 16 hours of light a day which is optimal for egg production so that is something to try if you want eggs in the winter.

This is my first winter with the new batch of chickens and so far they are laying well even with reduced light. IDK if some breeds lay better in the winter or not. If you recently changed their feed it can throw them off as well as environmental changes.

 

[Publius]

I supplement light from 5A to 10P. They need a minimum of 14 hours a day. Since our winters are almost always very cloudy, I just supplement regardless. They are laying just fine with that.

This ^^^ and it should make some difference in the first few days.

 

[Raggedyman]

Perhaps a big chopping log and a ax stuck in it, with this nailed to the side of coop or make a flag for the coop.....

SKARE TACTICS . . .

 

[WalknTrot]

Pretty normal.
Boost their feed quality and make sure they are getting at least 14 hours of light/day. Could also be a molt and that could mess 'em up for a month.

Frankly, in winter I don't expect eggs in my Minnesota climate. Only about 8 hours of natural daylight and more cold than most people can imagine. Keeping them alive through the winter until they start laying again sometime the first part of March is the goal.

Adding: First year pullets tend to lay through their first winter without a lot of encouragement. Second year and thereafter...not so much.

 

[TxGal]

Ours have pretty much stopped laying, too. We'll get one here and there, but not consistently. It happens this time of year every year, less natural light. This year we've opted to not add supplemental lighting, we're just going with their natural cycle. Our girls are getting older, so we knew this was going to happen. We have one molting now, but the rest aren't. We joke that they're all just walking chicken dinners if needed.

We have everything on hand if we need to expand our chicken housing for replacement layers. Right now, though, we're just buying free-range, organic eggs as we can. If we slide into a deep depression or something similar, we'll definitely get either eggs for hatching and let our bantams hatch them, or a batch of chicks (locally, if need be). If the economy and supply chain hold together, this will likely be our last flock...age and health is catching up to us.

We're lucky that we have a lot of farmers/ranchers nearby that we can buy eggs from. Certainly don't mind helping the local small producers keep going.

 

[TerriHaute]

As mentioned above, egg laying is dependent on having enough daylight hours and protein. When I had chickens, I used to add four or five hours of light to their days by having an LED light on a timer in the coop. We had plenty of eggs all year round. Upon the advice of someone who raised chickens for many years, I also gave them extra protein in the form of dry dog food. A few cups added to their daily ration of feed was enough when I had a dozen hens, a large bag lasted all winter.

 

[nomifyle]

This is the third winter that our chickens have increased their production. We do have 20 plus laying hens. Hard to count them and then there are the ones that insist on staying out of the chicken pen. The chicken pen is about a acre fenced with quite a few trees and brush inside of the pen. Actually I think the production increased when DH enlarged the pen. We give our extras away, which is any where from 4 to 6 dozen a week. They are fed regular laying pellets and corn.

 

[Pebbles]

Mine have not laid for the last three days and the daily take has been dwindling down for the last week or so. This is normal. I will usually give them the time off and then in February, if they haven't started back up, I will give them yogurt for a few days and that gets them going again.

 

[Border Collie Dad]

They do not molt until they are a year old. That is why production doesn't drop much the first year. Molting can take from about 3 weeks up to over 2 months depending on the chicken.

I don't think they're molting.
I can change my timer so they have 14-16 hours of supplemental light.

Or, I guess I can buy eggs.

 

[Martinhouse]

I learned from experience that new pullets lay all winter but the following year they molt for the first time, and then they almost always stop laying until the following spring. And it's true that there are only a certain amount of eggs in each hen and if you force year-round, you'll just shorten their laying life.

One thing I learned with my first flock.....if a hen is laying, her legs and the rim of eyelid all the way around her eye will be pink. If she is not laying, the legs and rim of the eye turn yellow-orange. I don't know if or how this works for any birds with colored skin or feathered legs, as I've never had any of those.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Pretty normal.
Boost their feed quality and make sure they are getting at least 14 hours of light/day. Could also be a molt and that could mess 'em up for a month.

Frankly, in winter I don't expect eggs in my Minnesota climate. Only about 8 hours of natural daylight and more cold than most people can imagine. Keeping them alive through the winter until they start laying again sometime the first part of March is the goal.

Adding: First year pullets tend to lay through their first winter without a lot of encouragement. Second year and thereafter...not so much.

And be aware that some chickens are stealth molters. They only lose a couple feathers at a time. It does cut into their energy for egg laying.

 

[summerthyme]

Free range once the weather turns nasty tends to trash egg production. They need a snug, draft free place for night, at least, with plenty of dry bedding.

Also, they need 14 hours of light total... I'd leave that light on until 9 pm. Sunrise this far north isn't until 7 am, and that will get later yet for another month.

If they aren't molting, feeding a warm mash (just pour boil8ng water over their layer pellets or mash, let cool to safe temps, fluff up and serve) can help. Old timers used to swear by feeding sprouted oats.

We're still getting 4 eggs a week (each) from the 4 "wild hens" who refuse to stay in the chicken pen with the rest. They free ranged all summer, and figured out that the opening of the patio door in the apartment (it opens directly to the barnyard) is the "dinner bell"...all kitchen scraps, etc get dumped out there. They havent been fed grain for at least 4 months... I keep expecting them to stop laying, but so far, they keep on. They are older.... past their first molt in the fall, so that helps.

Summerthyme

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

I hated that some just blow a huge percentage of their feathers at one time. A chicken sleeve can be made out an arm of an old sweater or the like to help them keep warm. They will hate it, but you're bigger than they are so you can do stuff to them.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

As mentioned above, egg laying is dependent on having enough daylight hours and protein. When I had chickens, I used to add four or five hours of light to their days by having an LED light on a timer in the coop. We had plenty of eggs all year round. Upon the advice of someone who raised chickens for many years, I also gave them extra protein in the form of dry dog food. A few cups added to their daily ration of feed was enough when I had a dozen hens, a large bag lasted all winter.

I would give mine canned cat food. They would knock you over to get to it.....

 

[cowboy]

Would having some feathered pullets started this time of year give me eggs in the spring thru winter and the next summer?

Verses spring chicks that might start laying going into their first winter.

 

[John Deere Girl]

I have BOSS mixed in the chicken feed during the colder months. It helps with production.

 

[Chicken Mama]

Not much I can add as the answers have already been posted. You can let nature take it's course and give the girls a break, or put your light on a timer so they get a minimum of 14 hours light.

In the cold north we put a heat lamp in the coop that stays on 24/7, and that seems to keep them happy. Egg production will still decrease from summer months even with supplement light but won't turn completely off.

 

[Nich1]

Sherryboo's is what is here. I have 9 layers...some are retired! There are 4 that are only 2 years old and they aren't laying either. I figure they must've been created to have "time off" with fewer hours of light, so I can go with that. I'm happy to have them and even happier when they give back. Soon, I'm sure, they'll start giving again. :-)

 

[Murt]

my daughter has a few chickens and we get eggs every so often --her chickens must have slowed because the other night she gave us a dozen eggs--duck eggs

 

[psychgirl]

I would give mine canned cat food. They would knock you over to get to it.....

They’re just SO funny to me !!

 

[zeker]

my girls will not go outside when the snow is on the ground.

I have no clue. why not

in manitoba, all my girls went outside in the winter

except when it was brutal

then they would walk to the door

take 1 peek

and shake their head NOPE

 

[Martinhouse]

I got my first flock of chickens in the summer of 1980. The ones I kept for layers wouldn't go outside most of the following winter as that was one of the ones that gave us lots of snow. So, since there is warmth in this Arkansas sun even in January (unlike back in Minnesota!) After a snowfall I would shovel little paths all over the yard and they would usually thaw right after a snowfall, and the chickens would run all over those paths. I always figure that either the snpw actually makes their feet lots colder, or maybe they just didn't like how it felt when they walked on it.

Maybe it was an instinctive thing.....weren't chickens originally jungle creatures?

 

[WalknTrot]

I got my first flock of chickens in the summer of 1980. The ones I kept for layers wouldn't go outside most of the following winter as that was one of the ones that gave us lots of snow. So, since there is warmth in this Arkansas sun even in January (unlike back in Minnesota!) After a snowfall I would shovel little paths all over the yard and they would usually thaw right after a snowfall, and the chickens would run all over those paths. I always figure that either the snpw actually makes their feet lots colder, or maybe they just didn't like how it felt when they walked on it.

Maybe it was an instinctive thing.....weren't chickens originally jungle creatures?

Yeah...mine don't miss going outside in the cold and snow...except they fuss a little on the rare warm sunny day. (N MN)
They have an east "morning sun" window - it helps moderate the normally coldest part of the day. In a more moderate climate, you can encourage them to go out by laying down a thin path of hay. Not only does the dark color help the sun to melt the snow, but the chickens like the insulation and the seed pickin'.

Because the predators here (everything from timber wolves, coyotes, fox, bobcat, weasel and mink) are especially desperate and daring in the winter, the chicken flock stays locked inside until after the early spring "starving time" in March/early April.

 

[Kewpie]

Did they have a heavy molt? Laying will definitely be effected by molting.

As far as supplemental light, I’ve read that morning is preferable and red light works best. I acquired some Marans in August that never bothered to lay a thing. I put a red heat lamp in their coop because we had a couple cold nights, and lo and behold, look who’s giving me eggs now.

 

[Millwright]

Chickens stopped laying, so I gave them cat food.


I'm pretty sure a country song is just under the surface of that Comment.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

I got my first flock of chickens in the summer of 1980. The ones I kept for layers wouldn't go outside most of the following winter as that was one of the ones that gave us lots of snow. So, since there is warmth in this Arkansas sun even in January (unlike back in Minnesota!) After a snowfall I would shovel little paths all over the yard and they would usually thaw right after a snowfall, and the chickens would run all over those paths. I always figure that either the snpw actually makes their feet lots colder, or maybe they just didn't like how it felt when they walked on it.

Maybe it was an instinctive thing.....weren't chickens originally jungle creatures?

I shoveled paths for my girls all the time if I had snow. I built my coop about 2.5 ' above the ground. They always were under there in winter. my coop was south facing so their big window would keep the coop warm. If they saw local hawk, they zoomed under the coop.