Help! My chickens have stopped laying eggs!

[Andypants090]

Hi there everyone! I'm new here but have been a secret reader for many years.
Little back story, I've had chickens for about 8 years, mixed breed nothing special, we keep the hens for eggs and chicks and the roosters for a short period until they are ready for the soup pot!
I live in Bahrain the temperature here goes from a high in the summer of 45 degrees C in the winter a low of 13 C for just a few days.
My chickens are in a large coop with about 3sqm per chicken, plus they free roam the back yard daily for about 10 hours.
They have been one the same layer feed since I started having chickens. We now have about 30? Plus 4 ducks and 5 turkeys, we used to live on a farm where I had over 600 layers (plus 20 or so roosters)

Now to the issue at hand. I have never had anytime at all that I did not get at least a few eggs a day. Usualy I get about 5 as I have alot of young hens that have not started laying yet, but I average about 30% eggs a day. Then 2 weeks ago suddenly my chickens stopped laying eggs, my ducks are still laying but the chickens have DEAD stopped. This has never happened to me before, and I cannot figure out what the issue is. They are still eating the same amount, active and healthy, no illnesses or deaths, can any one give me an idea of what I should do or what I can try....? I have always vaccinated my chickens and do so every 4 months, but I have never used antibiotics on my flock, nor do I intend to, only in dire situations where it is absolutely necessary.
I will add there is no such thing as a 'poultry vet' unless you get the guys from the broiler chicken factories which will just throw antibiotics at you, they do not have labs or etc to do any kind of diagnostic work nor do they care they just tell you to cull the bird and it's ok because you can get another....

Any help advice or guidance would be much appreciated and thank you for reading this!

 

[BDutch]

Could it be a hidden nest outside?
A thief (animal)?
Sometimes its moulting, red mites, a parasite or other health issues that cause a drop in laying. But not from good layers to nothing in one day time.

Maybe you get eggs again if you confine them for a whole day or 2 to figure out if the hens have a problem or that it has to do with free ranging.
At least do a search and look at their behaviour when you set them free.

 

[Debbie292d]

Here in the States, the same thing happens. Usually, it's due to a heat wave it seems, but sometimes it's for no reason known. Us too. Our silkies will go a few days like someone shuts them off, then suddenly we get 7 in one day, and there's 7 hens in that coop. The other coop, it's the same thing. Feast or famine, yet, not a thing explains it. Same food, same water, same everything including the weather for the most part.

It's only been happening this summer too as other summers they just laid consistently.

 

[BDutch]

^^ Good post. I didn't think about the heat bc I live in a mild climate.
If its the heat is the problem others can give better advices.
I know there is an article about chickens in summer heat with tips.

 

[Andypants090]

Could it be a hidden nest outside?
A thief (animal)?
Sometimes its moulting, red mites, a parasite or other health issues that cause a drop in laying. But not from good layers to nothing in one day time.

Maybe you get eggs again if you confine them for a whole day or 2 to figure out if the hens have a problem or that it has to do with free ranging.
At least do a search and look at their behaviour when you set them free.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
So in short I had them closed up for 7 days while I was away. Coop is completely enclosed, top and bottom, some one was coming in daily to refresh water and top up feed, plus they get scraps daily as well, I turned the coop over the day before I left and honestly there is no place that an egg could be hidden, I also checked the garden and it's very open so same thing there. In the 7 days they were locked in we got duck eggs (about 5 ) but not a single chicken egg....
I have checked them over for everything, no ticks, no mites (we use diatomaceous earth for their dust bath and it's also spread through the coop)

They do molt but production may drop to 10% but never 0 eggs in 14 days....

I'm stumped....!

 

[Andypants090]

Here in the States, the same thing happens. Usually, it's due to a heat wave it seems, but sometimes it's for no reason known. Us too. Our silkies will go a few days like someone shuts them off, then suddenly we get 7 in one day, and there's 7 hens in that coop. The other coop, it's the same thing. Feast or famine, yet, not a thing explains it. Same food, same water, same everything including the weather for the most part.

It's only been happening this summer too as other summers they just laid consistently.

We used to live in GA ! Had chickens there too but i was too young to reqlly oay them any attention... but here honestly even with heat spiking up to 50c at some points they always still lay (even if it's less...) but the temperatures are very stable now and it's actually a high of 38c for the past week.... which is pretty mild for us. July is usualy the hardest hitting month here.... its just strange because all the years here this absolute ZERO is a new thing... I was just worried about them... maybe something off about this year!

 

[Andypants090]

^^ Good post. I didn't think about the heat bc I live in a mild climate.
If its the heat is the problem others can give better advices.
I know there is an article about chickens in summer heat with tips.

Weather definitely has huge effect! Our 'season' is actually February until May/June and then again from October until December, we get up to 50% production at that time of the year! Summer and 'winter' goes down to about 20% to 30%
That's also why we don't have pure breeds, we let nature take over and just want the birds to breed healthy heart tolerant babies!

 

[BDutch]

Another possibility is the change.
Maybe stress was a factor because they are not used to stay inside the coop/run. I have no clue how much space, hiding places and shadow they had but I know that stress can be a factor too.
Next thing that can be a trigger to stop is age. If chickens are about 18 months old they often go to their first moult and stop laying for several weeks.

If for whatever reasons chickens stop laying, it often takes weeks before they start laying again.

 

[Andypants090]

Another possibility is the change.
Maybe stress was a factor because they are not used to stay inside the coop/run. I have no clue how much space, hiding places and shadow they had but I know that stress can be a factor too.
Next thing that can be a trigger to stop is age. If chickens are about 18 months old they often go to their first moult and stop laying for several weeks.

If for whatever reasons chickens stop laying, it often takes weeks before they start laying again.

I thought I replied to this! My apologies!
They had stopped layed eggs 1 week before I locked them in the coop....
As for ages I have some chickens that are already over 2 years old and some that are around 9 or 10 months old and quite a few in-between....

I do have a sneaking suspicion that I may have egg eaters on my hands.... because my duck eggs are untouched and I'm seeking VERY clear nesting spots but no eggs.... I think I have a few hens /roosters that have gotten a taste for eggs....

Any ideas on how to stop it?!

 

[BDutch]

Any ideas on how to stop it?!

Find the beast who does this. Watch what they do during the day, put a camera up that records moving.

When you got her/it , make sure she/it stops. Maybe snakes or rats can be a possibility too? Secure all holes they can come through.

A hen who eats eggs is more difficult to stop. Things I have been reading: Replace real eggs for stone eggs in the nest after they lay. Give more calcium for harder shells. Fill a few eggs with mustard /something nasty. Give her a verdict, let her spend some time in jail to make her insecure if she returns to the flock, or choose the harsh solution : a death sentence and a last meal before she is handed over to the executioner.