Every yard hen keeper has skilled it: sooner or later, your hens are laying reliably, and another, the nesting boxes are mysteriously vacant. According to Gail Damerow, renowned poultry expert and creator of Storey’s Tutorial to Elevating Chickens, this egg-laying pause is commonly not a thriller whatsoever. There are actually very clear, purely natural reasons hens stop laying, and understanding them can help you support your flock and restore productiveness. Here i will discuss Damerow’s major 5 causes hens cease laying—and what you can do about them.
one. Molting: A Organic Pause
As Damerow explains, molting is usually a annually occasion in a hen’s lifetime, generally happening in late summer months to early slide. Throughout this time, hens reduce and regrow feathers—a approach that requires a huge level of Electrical power and protein. Egg creation frequently stops through this period, as being the hen's physique focuses fully on feather regeneration.
What You Can Do: Assist your hens with a substantial-protein feed or snacks like mealworms and scrambled eggs. Avoid stressing the flock and Permit mother nature consider its study course. As soon as the molt is full, egg-laying should really steadily resume.
2. Shortened Daylight Hrs
Light-weight exposure plays a vital position in stimulating a hen’s reproductive system. Damerow points out that hens want fourteen–sixteen several hours of daylight for consistent laying. As daylight decreases in the fall and winter months, so does egg creation.
What You Can Do: Look at introducing a light source within the coop using a timer to simulate normal daylight. A very low-wattage bulb turning on during the early early morning can properly increase "daylight" and support Wintertime laying. Avoid unexpected lights variations Which may worry your birds.
three. Lousy Diet
Diet is foundational to egg manufacturing. Damerow warns that feeding chickens a diet program lacking in protein, calcium, or essential vitamins may result in much less or no eggs. Treats and scratch grains, when exciting, can dilute the balanced nutrition furnished by business layer feed.
What You Can Do: Ensure your flock has constant usage of substantial-top quality layer feed, clean up drinking water, and calcium dietary supplements like crushed oyster shell. Limit treats to not more than 10% in their day-to-day diet plan.
four. Worry and Environmental Variables
Anxiety is An important contributor to diminished egg output. In line with Damerow, stressors can contain predator threats, overcrowding, bullying, Severe temperatures, or even transferring the coop. Hens are sensitive to change and will react by halting egg manufacturing.
What You are able to do: Produce a tranquil, safe natural environment to your birds. Manage steady routines, offer sufficient space, and deal with resources of stress for example loud noises or intense flockmates.
5. Age and Health Issues
Damerow reminds us that laying is not a lifelong endeavor. Most hens commence laying close to 5–six months of age, peak at about one–2 many years, then little by little decelerate. Ailment, parasites, and reproductive difficulties Fun88 Casino may interfere with laying.
What You are able to do: Keep watch over your hens’ All round overall health. Carry out normal parasite checks, preserve a thoroughly clean coop, and consult a vet for those who observe indications of disease. More mature hens may still be important associates from the flock regardless of whether their laying days are behind them.
Closing Ideas
As Gail Damerow generally says, “Chickens don’t just quit laying for no explanation.” If the hens have a split, it’s their technique for signaling that a little something in their ecosystem or biology has shifted. With a certain amount of observation, superior treatment, and many persistence, you can assist guidebook your flock back to healthy egg output—or just enjoy the organic rhythms in their lives.