9 Reasons Your Chickens Aren’t Laying Eggs

9 Reasons Your Chickens Aren’t Laying Eggs
It can be a little shocking to head out to your coop only to find no eggs! Since it takes about 24 to 26 hours for a chicken to lay an egg, you can usually expect an egg from each chicken at least every other day or more.
Most of the time, if you aren’t getting that many eggs, there is a simple issue that can be corrected with a little bit of problem-solving. Let’s look at a few reasons why your hens aren’t laying eggs and what you can do about it.
1. It’s Fall
As the seasons change, so do the number of eggs your hens produce. Egg production peaks in the spring and summer when the weather is warmer, and the hens are getting 12 to 15 hours of sunlight a day. But as the daylight gets shorter, egg production drops off. This is protective.
First, it helps prevent chicks from hatching in the dead of winter, when they are less likely to survive. Second, it helps the hens conserve energy to keep warm and healthy in winter.
You can mitigate the drop off of fall production by putting a light in your chicken coop for a few hours a day to extend the natural daylight. This may trick your chickens’ reproductive systems into laying all year round.
2. Your Hens Went Broody
When a hen goes broody, she’ll stop laying. A broody hen is a hen who is sitting on a clutch, or pile of eggs, with the intent of hatching them into baby chicks! A hen can go broody without a rooster, but the eggs won’t develop into chicks unless you have one.
When a hen collects enough eggs (usually around 10 to 14, but it can be as few as one!), she’ll gather them under her and sit on them for almost the entire day. She’ll rarely leave the nest, with the exception of getting up to eat and drink a little and defecate. Because she won’t be eating her normal amount of food, her body stops laying eggs to conserve energy.
After about three weeks, the eggs should hatch, and she’ll return to laying within a couple of weeks.
3. Your Hens Are Getting a New Wardrobe
Most chickens will go through a molt once or twice a year. Generally, chickens will molt at the end of summer/beginning of fall so that they have fresh, healthy feathers to keep them warm all winter.
As they molt, they’ll drop their old feathers and grow new ones. This requires a lot of energy, so most of the time, hens will stop laying eggs until the molt is finished. Some hens will look like they are on death’s door while they are molting, while others will hardly be noticeable at all.
4. Your Chickens Aren’t Feeling Well
Mites, parasites, lice, disease, or any other types of illness can squelch your hens’ ability to lay eggs. Look for signs of lethargy, lack of appetite, disinterest in normal chicken activities, or a pale comb. You’ll want to get your hens healthy so they can start laying again.
Remember that if your chickens aren’t well, supplement their water with Avaplex, which can boost their immune systems.
5. They Faced Trauma
Trauma can cause your chickens to stop laying their eggs. Trauma can be a lot of different things: changing coops, moving to a new farm, losing a fellow chicken, or surviving a predator attack.
Help your chickens through stressful times with Avaplex in their drinking water.
6. They’re Past Their Egg Laying Years
Hens generally start laying at around 20 weeks of age. A healthy hen will live anywhere from 3 to 7 years and even as long as 8 to 10 years. They might lay eggs their entire lives, but egg production peaks in their second or third year of laying. After that, egg production drops off around 10% per year.
As they age, their eggs get bigger even though they are laid less frequently.
7. Your Hens’ Diet Is Off
An unbalanced diet can throw off your hen’s reproductive calendar. If your chickens aren’t getting enough to eat or aren’t eating a good balanced diet, they may slow or even stop their egg production.
For example, scratch grains are considered a food supplement. But if that is all your chickens get to eat, they won’t be healthy. A balanced diet - such as a commercial chicken feed supplemented with scratch grains and plenty of fresh fodder - will go a long way towards helping your chickens be healthy enough to lay eggs.
However, you can boost your chicken’s digestive health with a daily application of Nutriplex-W™ to their drinking water. This ensures your flock is able to fully digest, absorb, and utilize all the nutrients available in their diet. Even if you provide a completely balanced diet, if the digestive process is disrupted your flock won't uptake all the nutrients they need. Thankfully Nutriplex-W supplemented daily removes the concern of digression distributions, all of which help boost egg production.
8. Your Hens Are Sneaking Around
Just because there aren’t eggs in the coop doesn’t mean your hens aren’t laying eggs. Often, they’re just sneaking around! If they don’t like the nest boxes in the coop, or if your coop is dirty or full of bugs, they may find nicer places to lay their eggs. Something as simple as a chicken squabble might entice a hen or two to find other spots to lay their eggs, as well.
I’ve caught my little stinkers hiding eggs underneath the lemon balm in the garden, in an old tire in the woods, and even in a very cozy, discarded Amazon box. If they don’t like the accommodations you provide, they’ll likely make their own!
You can encourage your hens to lay in the coop by making sure the nest boxes are clean, have fresh litter, and have a little privacy. If that isn’t good enough, an old golf ball or a fake egg placed in the nest box can give the hens the right idea.
9. There Are Predators in the Coop
Predators don’t just eat chickens. Some predators are far more interested in their eggs. Small snakes, rodents, and even raccoons can sneak into the coop when you and the hens aren’t around. They can make off with a whole egg or eat it in the coop, leaving behind bits and pieces of shell.
If you notice that eggs are going missing and you can’t find any good reason, you might need to predator-proof your coop. Rats can enter your coop through holes the size of a quarter, and so can small snakes. They love finding an easy meal - like an unsuspecting egg - that they can devour or take back to their nest. Be sure to seal up any holes with hardware cloth to keep those little predators out.
There are many reasons why you might not get the eggs you expect. But with some detective work, you can figure out and correct whatever is ailing your hens.