Many poultry owners struggle to think about why chickens stop laying eggs. For numerous reasons, chickens can stop producing eggs and go on strike. Usually, the most common cause is whenever the hens become old, they stop laying eggs.
When the hen’s age becomes 3 years, it will stop producing an egg. But along with this reason, there are other causes for which your Chicken will stop laying eggs. And those reasons are:
Reasons Why Do Chickens Stop Laying Eggs
For the following 7 reasons, your chickens can suddenly stop producing an egg. Let’s go through all these reasons first.
- Lack of enough Daylight
- broody hens
- introduction of new chickens
- Old Age
- Certain Breeds Don’t Lay As Many Eggs
- Illnesses of chickens
- presence of predators
In the following section, we will discuss why your Chicken stops laying eggs. So, let’s dive into the discussion:
1. Lack of Enough Daylight
Usually, when the days become short, the hens don’t get enough daylight to grow. Thus, without enough sunlight on shorter days, the chickens’ egg production can collapse. However, commercial poultry owners use artificial light to combat this trouble and ensure enough daylight for the Chicken.
However, if you are a backyard chicken owner, you can also use artificial light to increase the light for your Chicken’s egg production. Keep your Chicken in a building or a hen house to ensure enough lighting when the days are shorter.
Whether you are using artificial or natural daylight, you should ensure a sufficient amount of light equal to the length of the longest natural day. During a day, at least 9 hours provide them enough daylight and keep your chicken warm to get continuous egg production.
2. Chicken’s Age
So another factor is the age of your Chicken, for which it stops laying an egg. Don’t be worried about thinking, why are my chickens not laying eggs? Before that, calculate your Chicken’s age and then think about whether your hen is more than 3 years or not. If yes, then you have nothing to complain about at all.
However, when you have many chickens in your backyard chicken coops, and you don’t remember their age, then it’s a problem. Then it’s become tough to take the simple decision that your chicken stop laying eggs due to age. But be sure that if the oldest Chicken on your farm is more than 3 years old, it will not lay eggs.
However, the age at which your chickens stop producing eggs is different for various bread. For example, some hen breeds lay eggs at best for 2-3 years, while others may lay eggs for more years. Producing eggs continuously over the years sadly reduces your hen’s life expectancy.
3. Brooding Hens
Hens naturally want to sit on their eggs and want to hatch the eggs. However, some breeds are more prone to this condition. Usually, when hens hatch their eggs and sit on them for 21 days, they will not produce eggs.
4. Illness
Some of the common illnesses of chickens are parasites and cold. Slime around your hen’s nose indicates cold. And while taking a breath, your Chicken’s mouth will remain open due to cold. Due to the cold disease, your hen will fail to breathe through her nose.
Attacks of parasites are another disease that your Chicken suffers from and for which your hens stop laying eggs. Some of the parasites are lice, mites and worms. The usual symptoms of parasite illness include hens constantly scratching or itching themselves and the comb turning pale. Due to all these diseases, your hens stop producing eggs.
However, to combat these diseases, you can use the poultry cleaner on your chicken coop or hen’s house. Also, the poultry cleaner is a useful option for removing hen parasites. Moreover, you can naturally treat your Chicken’s parasite disease using raw apple cider vinegar and diatomaceous earth.
The diatomaceous earth internally finds the parasites and dehydrates the worms. Moreover, the raw apple cider vinegar acts as a mild antibiotic and antiseptic. And the apple cider vinegar will effectively kill germs and bacteria. Also, all these make your Chicken’s living easier.
However, sometimes these diseases may attack your chickens, but your hens will not show any symptoms, but suddenly they will stop laying eggs. You should immediately consult with a veterinarian by seeing the sudden stoppage of egg production if you suspect anything. Otherwise, your chicken flock can die if you do a little late.
You may also like to read: The Essential Vitamins and Minerals Your Backyard Chickens Need
5. Predator Attack
Your hens will stop laying eggs if predators attack their hens. Usually, the chickens stop producing eggs as a reaction to the stress. Due to the post-traumatic stress reaction, your Chicken will not have any eggs.
When your chickens undergo a traumatic reaction, their body takes time to readjust to the normal situation. Many chickens can’t cope with the traumatic situation easily. As a result, they stop laying eggs. So build your chicken coop in such a way that predators cannot attack.
However, to combat this situation, you should place your chickens in a dark and quiet environment after the predator attacks. Keep your hens in the dark place with necessary food and water. Again, if your Chicken is injured, you should adequately treat hen.
The Chicken requires huge reassurance from you, along with patience and time. And also, try to integrate your Chicken with her flock as quickly as possible. Otherwise, your Chicken will go through the pecking order again, making the situation worse.
6. Introduction of New Chickens
In some instances, when you introduce new chickens to the old flocks, your old hens will stop producing eggs. They may suffer from the fear of new chickens. And thus they don’t feel like laying eggs in front of the new one.
The new chickens in the folks sometimes cause tremendous discomfort for old hens. Moreover, the old chickens can get weak due to a lack of adjustments. Thus, the introduction of new hens creates pain. So, in this condition, your hens will not lay eggs.
7. Certain Breeds Don’t Lay As Many Eggs
Few breeds of chickens nonstop lay eggs for years without any pause. But some certain species don’t lay eggs continuously. Or sometimes, after laying eggs for some days, some particular breeds stop laying eggs. Do a little research and pick that poultry that will lay eggs continuously.
However, some poultry owners also ask for “will chickens stop laying eggs if coop is dirty?” The answer is yes. If you keep your Chicken in the dirty coop, they will stop producing eggs. So, maintain a routine and regularly clean your hen’s coop or house. Ensure a clean and warm environment for your Chicken so they can perfectly lay an egg in their home.
You may also like to read: Do Hens Get Sad When You Take Their Chicks?
Final Words
So now you know why do chickens stop laying eggs? Due to physical illness, a new situation or due to the attack of predators or disease, your chickens can stop laying eggs. However, we included the major causes in this list above.
But still some other reasons responsible for controlling your Chicken’s egg production. Whatever the reasons are, you must know your Chicken’s flock very well to determine the cause. And then take action accordingly.
