Entire flock not laying

[Mak2231]

I have a mixed flock of 24 hens, 3 roosters. 16 of our hens are a year old and laying, 8 are still too young. We mix our own feed-same recipe each time and it is 20% protein. Throughout the winter, we were getting anywhere from 9-14 eggs/day. This past Saturday, we didn’t get any eggs. Sunday, we got one egg. Wednesday we got one egg. Other than those 2 eggs, we haven’t gotten any eggs in 6 days. The only notable changes in the flock happened several weeks ago when we lost one of our favorite hens and introduced a new (very docile) rooster. One of our roosters has been pulling some feathers on his 4 favorite hens, but other than that there has been no flock aggression or notable feather loss. The flock is confined to a run, so I know they’re not hiding their eggs somewhere I can’t find them. I’m also not finding any shells and we’ve never had an issue with egg eating. Any ideas on what’s going on?

 

[ChookaPete]

Have any predators been around lately, scaring them through the fence?

 

[thistlewick]

3 Roosters is too many for only 24 hens - if they are fully adult and looking to mate them up; 1 Rooster to ~10 hens is recommended.

yeah yeah yeah, I know people will say "but but but"

It's probably that.

OR "One of our roosters has been pulling some feathers on his 4 favorite hens"

That isn't normal. That's stress. Stress = no laying.

Destress your chickens <3

 

[Mak2231]

Have any predators been around lately, scaring them through the fence?

Not that I’m aware of. We live in a neighborhood and I’ve never seen any predators around. I have 2 dogs, but they’re inside a privacy fence and can’t even see the chickens

 

[Mak2231]

3 Roosters is too many for only 24 hens - if they are fully adult and looking to mate them up; 1 Rooster to ~10 hens is recommended.

yeah yeah yeah, I know people will say "but but but"

It's probably that.

OR "One of our roosters has been pulling some feathers on his 4 favorite hens"

That isn't normal. That's stress. Stress = no laying.

Destress your chickens <3

I’ve been strongly considering putting the more aggressive one on a dinner plate, I’ll do that this weekend. Thank you. I was raised with chickens but we never had a rooster, so I’m not familiar with their behaviors. <3

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll go through my standard list.

The usual reason a flock stops laying or almost stops laying is the molt. I know, I know. It is spring where you are and many people believe that nonsense that chickens only molt in the fall. Most do molt in the fall but chickens can molt any time of the year. Have they been getting light to lengthen their apparent day and that light is now gone? That may be lights you added to get them to lay during the winter or a security light or street light that went out. That happens a lot.

Stress can cause a flock to molt out of season. Stress could be from predators, a change in the pecking order, or a change in housing to name a few. The question here is "Are you seeing feathers flying around?" If you are seeing feathers they are molting and not laying.

Sometimes stress will cause a drop in egg production without causing a molt. Severe weather, a perceived predator attack, or changes can cause them to temporarily stop laying. You mentioned some but those seems too long ago to be your current problem unless it is a molt.

I know you said it can't be, but a very common cause of them appearing to not lay is that they are hiding a nest. They can be really good at that, even locked in a run. But by now there should be enough eggs stacked up that you should be able to find it.

Another common cause of you thinking they are not laying is that something is getting the eggs. Many critters that take the eggs leave signs, broken eggshells or wet spots. Some critters in North America that do not leave signs are snakes, canines, and humans. Even if snakes are active where you are it is not a snake. Too many eggs and too consistent. A snake typically eats some eggs and then hides while it digests them. Then, a few days later, it comes back for more. I had a 5' black rat snake eat 4 eggs out from under a broody hen and come back for more 3 days later. Ate four at a time. Nope, not a snake.

I'm not sure what continent you are on so you may have different predators, but a fox or coyote would more likely have an interest in eating a hen than the eggs. Not likely one of them. Does a dog have access? They can swallow eggs whole and not bother the hens.

A human does not always mean a stranger. Usually it is someone you know, especially if it is consistent. People do these things as a practical joke or maybe they are selling the eggs somewhere.

Some diseases can cause hens to stop laying but if that were the case they'd be acting sick. And they can lay deformed eggs. I'll mention it because it can happen but if they are acting normal it is not likely to be a disease.

I don't know why you are not getting any eggs. With that many hens that age that laid through the winter you should be doing better. If yours were out ranging I'd suggest locking them up for a few days to see if you were keeping them from hidden nests or maybe locking out an egg eating predator. That's probably not helpful for yours. I will suggest discreetly marking a couple of eggs and leave them down there. If they disappear you will know something is going on.

Sometimes we can figure out what causes these things, sometimes not. It can be really frustrating. I wish you good luck.

 

[Yardmom]

You mentioned you make your own feed, and chickens have not eaten eggs before. How sure are you about not eating eggs? I think it is great that you mix your own feed. How long have you been doing that? What ingredients do you use? Are there any nutrients they could be short on causing them to need a break from laying or causing them to eat eggs

 

[LaFleche]

My guess is the additional new rooster which causes stress as it upsets the pecking order.

Other than that you could install a coop camera to monitor the nest boxes.

 

[Mak2231]

You mentioned you make your own feed, and chickens have not eaten eggs before. How sure are you about not eating eggs? I think it is great that you mix your own feed. How long have you been doing that? What ingredients do you use? Are there any nutrients they could be short on causing them to need a break from laying or causing them to eat eggs

We’ve mixed our own feed since they were old enough to get off chick starter feed, so the better part of a year. We include oyster shell, black oil sunflower seeds, cracked corn, millet, meal worms, whole oats, split peas, flax seed, and red pepper flakes. I can’t say that I’m 100% positive about them not eating eggs because I’m not watching them 24/7 nor do I have a camera. I haven’t seen any evidence of them eating them- no shells, no leftover egg mess.

 

[Mak2231]

I'll go through my standard list.

The usual reason a flock stops laying or almost stops laying is the molt. I know, I know. It is spring where you are and many people believe that nonsense that chickens only molt in the fall. Most do molt in the fall but chickens can molt any time of the year. Have they been getting light to lengthen their apparent day and that light is now gone? That may be lights you added to get them to lay during the winter or a security light or street light that went out. That happens a lot.

Stress can cause a flock to molt out of season. Stress could be from predators, a change in the pecking order, or a change in housing to name a few. The question here is "Are you seeing feathers flying around?" If you are seeing feathers they are molting and not laying.

Sometimes stress will cause a drop in egg production without causing a molt. Severe weather, a perceived predator attack, or changes can cause them to temporarily stop laying. You mentioned some but those seems too long ago to be your current problem unless it is a molt.

I know you said it can't be, but a very common cause of them appearing to not lay is that they are hiding a nest. They can be really good at that, even locked in a run. But by now there should be enough eggs stacked up that you should be able to find it.

Another common cause of you thinking they are not laying is that something is getting the eggs. Many critters that take the eggs leave signs, broken eggshells or wet spots. Some critters in North America that do not leave signs are snakes, canines, and humans. Even if snakes are active where you are it is not a snake. Too many eggs and too consistent. A snake typically eats some eggs and then hides while it digests them. Then, a few days later, it comes back for more. I had a 5' black rat snake eat 4 eggs out from under a broody hen and come back for more 3 days later. Ate four at a time. Nope, not a snake.

I'm not sure what continent you are on so you may have different predators, but a fox or coyote would more likely have an interest in eating a hen than the eggs. Not likely one of them. Does a dog have access? They can swallow eggs whole and not bother the hens.

A human does not always mean a stranger. Usually it is someone you know, especially if it is consistent. People do these things as a practical joke or maybe they are selling the eggs somewhere.

Some diseases can cause hens to stop laying but if that were the case they'd be acting sick. And they can lay deformed eggs. I'll mention it because it can happen but if they are acting normal it is not likely to be a disease.

I don't know why you are not getting any eggs. With that many hens that age that laid through the winter you should be doing better. If yours were out ranging I'd suggest locking them up for a few days to see if you were keeping them from hidden nests or maybe locking out an egg eating predator. That's probably not helpful for yours. I will suggest discreetly marking a couple of eggs and leave them down there. If they disappear you will know something is going on.

Sometimes we can figure out what causes these things, sometimes not. It can be really frustrating. I wish you good luck.

Thank you for taking the time to answer with so many different thoughts. You’ve addressed a lot of the possibilities I’ve been contemplating. I wondered about molting, but I haven’t seen an excessive amount of feathers. There are a few around the coop/run, but nothing out of the ordinary. My dogs never have access to the chickens. The dogs are inside a privacy fence and are also trained to our invisible fence which doesn’t allow them to go over to that section of our property. Our dogs are both retrievers, so we’ve made sure they don’t have any access to our girls. They’re not acting sick and their droppings don’t look out of sorts. I have noticed that there are little nest looking areas in their coop where they’ve kicked the bedding up in one area and made a little “bowl” but there are never any eggs. I’ve wondered about people taking the eggs, but I think our dogs would go crazy if anyone was anywhere near our property. I also check the boxes a couple times a day because when we were getting up to 14 in a day, I was sure to collect them before they piled up to prevent broken or messy eggs. We have 7 nesting boxes, but our girls typically only lay in 2 of them.
Like you said, it’s hard to tell. It’s very frustrating though! I had just established a good clientele and was selling at least 4 dozen eggs a week as well as feeding my family with them. Oh well, they’ll either pick back up or they won’t. There’s not a whole lot that can be done.