Every single backyard chicken keeper has expert it: one day, your hens are laying reliably, and the next, the nesting boxes are mysteriously vacant. In accordance with Gail Damerow, renowned poultry skilled and writer of Storey’s Guidebook to Boosting Chickens, this egg-laying pause is usually not a thriller in the least. You will find crystal clear, purely natural factors hens halt laying, and understanding them can assist you guidance your flock and restore productiveness. Here are Damerow’s leading five causes hens cease laying—and what you can do about them.

one. Molting: A Pure Pause
As Damerow describes, molting is really a annually function within a hen’s lifestyle, ordinarily transpiring in late summer time to early tumble. Through this time, hens drop and regrow feathers—a process that needs a tremendous number of Vitality and protein. Egg production generally stops in the course of this period, since the hen's physique focuses fully on feather regeneration.

What You Can Do: Assist your hens with a large-protein feed or snacks like mealworms and scrambled eggs. Avoid stressing the flock and Allow mother nature take its system. As soon as the molt is full, egg-laying really should steadily resume.

2. Shortened Daylight Hrs
Light-weight publicity plays a vital position in stimulating a hen’s reproductive procedure. Damerow points out that hens want fourteen–sixteen several hours of daylight for dependable laying. As daylight decreases in the fall and winter months, so does egg manufacturing.

What You Can Do: Look at introducing a lightweight source within the coop using a timer to simulate normal daylight. A very low-wattage bulb turning on during the early early morning can safely and securely extend "daylight" and help Winter season laying. Keep away from sudden lighting adjustments that might anxiety your birds.

3. Bad Nutrition
Nourishment is foundational to egg output. Damerow warns that feeding chickens a food plan missing in protein, calcium, or necessary nutritional vitamins may end up in fewer or no eggs. Treats and scratch grains, whilst enjoyable, can dilute the well balanced diet supplied by commercial layer feed.

What You are able to do: Assure your flock has consistent entry to higher-quality layer feed, clean up drinking water, and calcium dietary supplements like crushed oyster shell. Restrict treats to no more than ten% of their every day diet.

four. Tension and Environmental Things
Pressure is A significant contributor to lessened egg creation. Based on Damerow, stressors can include things like predator threats, overcrowding, bullying, Excessive temperatures, and even moving the coop. Hens are sensitive to vary and may respond by halting egg output.

What You Can Do: Make a serene, safe natural environment for the birds. Retain constant routines, present ample Room, and handle sources of anxiety which include loud noises or aggressive flockmates.

5. Age and Medical issues
Damerow reminds us that laying isn't a lifelong endeavor. Most hens commence laying all-around five–6 months of age, peak at about 1–2 several years, and then progressively decelerate. Ailment, parasites, and reproductive issues also can interfere with laying.

What You Can Do: Keep an eye on your hens’ overall well being. Carry out standard parasite checks, retain a clean up coop, and consult a vet should you recognize signs of disease. Older hens should still be worthwhile customers on the flock regardless of whether their laying times Fun88 Casino are driving them.

Ultimate Ideas
As Gail Damerow typically states, “Chickens don’t just quit laying for no motive.” Should your hens have a split, it’s their method of signaling that some thing in their environment or biology has shifted. With a bit of observation, superior treatment, and several persistence, you might help guide your flock back to wholesome egg manufacturing—or simply respect the pure rhythms of their life.