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Stopped Laying

3K views 57 replies 18 participants last post by  PlayingInDirt 
#1 ·
I have six chickens and a rooster. The six have always been good layers. They are two years old.

They stopped laying about 6 weeks ago. I might get one egg every few days.

I feed them laying pellets from Orscheln. Do I need to do something else?

 
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#46 ·
You should be able to turn a hen over and check her vent to determine if she is laying eggs or not. If they are laying but you cannot find eggs, they may be eating their eggs, a predator could be getting them or they have a hidden clutch. During times of moderate temperature and long periods of light, any hen not laying then should be soup. But during the months of darkness, without artificial light, many good hens will stop laying.
 
#47 · (Edited)
What should I be looking for, as far as checking the vent.

There isn't any place for a secret nest. They could be eating the eggs but I haven't seen any evidence or shells since about 2 weeks ago.

They have been laying well up until 2-3 weeks ago, I was getting 5 eggs every 3 days. They're jersey giants (4 of them) so they're not excellent layers.

This year I made a few newbie mistakes. I'll get a timer for the light. And I'm thinking it's time for hubby to try his hand at being the butcher very soon. I'm not running a boarding house.
 
#52 ·
Are they confined or free ranging?
If not confined, they could be laying somewhere besides the nest boxes.

If they are confined, it may be time to tighten up security in the coop and do some detective work.

It's late in the year for snakes to be active, but it's still possible.
They leave no signs.

Other animals usually eat the eggs there, and leave some residue in the nest even if the hens clean up the shells.

Many of the common egg eaters would also try to kill the hens.

Do you have a dog that could be doing it but not bothering the birds themselves?
 
#55 ·
They're confined. I've seen broken shells, outside of the boxes. I figured it was unlikely the chickens ate the eggs since the shells were in the yard and not in or near the boxes...?

There has been skunk activity so I'm thinking likely that's what's getting in there. I saw a spot that looked dug so I put something over it, I'll get some bricks in that spot. And I'm gonna need to get a trap.

So if I do catch a skunk..... WHAT do I do with it?

Netting is a good idea, I have some bird net around here so I'll try that too.
 
#57 ·
So if I do catch a skunk..... WHAT do I do with it?
You can stop the skunk from digging it's way in by putting down an "apron" around the perimeter of the fence and coop. You can usually just lay the wire flat on the ground and cover it with a little dirt or compost and grass will eventually anchor it in place.
You can attach it to the existing fence with "J clips" or hog rings, or even zip ties if needed.


If you trap a skunk you can shoot it from a distance, or throw an old blanket or towel over the trap and drop the whole thing in a large container of water to drown it.

Trying to release them is never a good idea.
 
#56 ·
They laid pretty good last winter.
Younger hens lay more winter eggs than older ones do. For instance, I do not bother with lights any longer, and last winter I got about 1 egg per week from my 4 older hens. I bought chicks last spring and yesterday I got 5 eggs from my 4 pullets and 2 old hens. (I lost 2 old hens last summer from natural causes: some kind of illness I think).
 
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