Are my girls on strike?

[fireman]

All thru summer, fall, and most of winter my girls have been steady layin'. But the last few weeks it seems they have gone on strike. We were getting 3-5 and sometimes 6 eggs a day from 4 one year old BOs and 2 PRs. Now, maybe 2 a day. Four weeks ago I brought in 3 Wyandottes who are not layin yet. About a month short. Everybody seems to be getting along fine. A spat here and there but thats all. We're in NE Florida and it's been wet and cold. Feeding all the girls the same feed and treats.

Perplexed.

 

[gritsar]

Do you think they could be molting? Kinda the wrong time of year for it, but with Florida's weather being a little bit different, maybe...

Also, are they free ranging? If so, one of the new girls could have decided to lay elsewhere and taught your older hens a very bad habit.

Those are the only two things that come to mind off the top of my head. They may have been disrupted by the addition of new hens, but after four weeks they should have gotten over that.

 

[fireman]

No free-ranging and no evidence of molting. I keep them penned in large area and every body still has all their feathers.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I'm having the same issue here, except that there are a few more feathers around than normal. No one looks like they're molting, but it might not be a full-out molt, but just enough to stop the laying. Any chance of something similar? Then again, it might just be the winter rest.

 

[gritsar]

I noticed with mine that the egg production went down about a week before I saw evidence of the molt.