There are several reasons why your chickens are not laying eggs again. Sometimes, they might have gone through stress, health challenges, nutritional problem, molting, lighting issues, etc. However, some of these problems are natural why some are not, but with good management practices this problem can be rectified and your chickens will start laying again.

If you are a poultry farmer or just a backyard chicken keeper, you may have noticed a sudden drop in egg production in your flock and you get worried, however, this is not the time to panic because you might take a wrong decision along the process.

There are some questions you have to answer before taking any action. Answering those questions will enable you to make an informed decision.

Your hens are probably approaching their end of the laying cycle... If that is the case, they will stop laying, go through a molt ( loss of feathers), have some rest, and start laying again.

The period of molting varies depending on the chicken breed. For backyard chickens, it takes about 8 to 12 weeks and can cause a sharp drop in egg production.

What to do during molting

• Feed your chickens a high protein diet to help them with feather regrowth. One cheap way to do this is to process the feathers and feed it to them. Feathers contain 80-85 percent protein.

• Once you notice molting in your chicken you should switch to a complete feed with 20% protein, prebiotics, probiotics, and essential vitamins and mineral.

• Keep your molting chickens comfortable and stress-free. Everybody deserves a comfortable environment during vacation including your chickens.

• While switching from layers feed to the high protein feed, you should mix both gradually as you change over to avoid digestive upset and shock.

Note: If your chickens have been laying for less than 10 months, something else may be responsible for the lack of production. This will lead us to the next question.

2. Feeding problem: Are your chicken eating enough of the right feed (balanced diet)?

The quantity and quality of feed you give to your laying birds will have a huge impact on their egg production. 

To eliminate feed as a possible reason why your chickens stop laying, you have to ensure your feed is of high quality and the hens are given the required daily amount at every stage of their life.

However,  we may be overwhelmed by the high cost of feed, which may cause us to cut corners by supplement their feed with low-quality grains. But in most cases, we end up incurring more losses than expected.

If you are formulating your own feed, care should be taken in selecting the right feed ingredients that are palatable. These feed ingredients should be mixed in the right proportion to form a balanced diet for your birds.

Any compromise on feed quality and quantity will surely have an adverse effect on egg production.

If you are sure of your feed quality, the next question should be...

3. Water issue: Are the chickens drinking enough fresh, clean water?

Your hens will not eat if they cannot drink, so ensure that your watering system is functioning well. Water is the most essential feed ingredient,  dot joke with water on your farm.

I can recall an incident on our school farm when one of the students forgot to put on the water system for one unit cage containing about 90 birds, about  70% of the birds didn’t lay that day. It took about 3 days for the whole bird to recover from the stress and start laying again.

In addition, keep the water cool as much as possible, although, keeping water cool at extreme temperatures can be very challenging during the cold or hot weather. 

During the cold weather (winter) you can buy drinkers that have heaters attached to keep the water from freezing, while in hot weather (summer) you can store your overhead tanks in a cool place and add some ice cubes in them to keep the water cool.

The issue of constant fresh clean water cannot be over-emphasized when it comes to egg production.

For 90% production, 1000 laying chickens should consume 270 liters of water per day. 

4. Light issue: Are the hen getting enough hours of light per day?

Research has shown that the intensity and duration of light have a huge impact on laying birds. An increase in light duration helps to stimulate egg laying in birds while a decrease in light hours reduces egg production.  The appropriate light hour is 16 to 18 hours per day for laying birds.

Therefore, it is important that your birds are getting the required light hours per day, even when the daylight is shorter, especially during the winter or fall.

During this period you should ensure to provide supplement light or else your birds may go out of production. You can put on the light before the day breaks in order to meet up the needed daily light hours.

5. Parasites Problem: Do the hens have parasites?

Several internal parasites and external parasites infest your hens and stress them. The common internal parasites that affect chickens are worms and protozoa, while external parasites are mites and lice.

Serious infestations of internal parasites can distort and damage the digestive tract and reduce hen performance. While heavy infestations of mites can cause anemia in hens, which adversely affect performance.

Ensure you deworm your hens regularly and disinfect every nook and crack in your chicken coop or pen.

To be continued.....