Why Do Chickens Stop Laying Eggs [10 Reasons With Easy Solutions!]

Why do chickens stop laying eggs? The reasons range from the natural, like shorter days and molting, to challenges like dietary gaps and stress. But don’t fret! By mimicking longer days with artificial light, pampering your molting birds with protein-rich snacks, and keeping their environment peaceful and pest-free, you can encourage your hens to get back to their egg-laying best. Let’s explore how you can get your hens happily laying again!

Reasons Why Chickens Stop Laying Eggs

There are many reasons why your chickens stop laying eggs. The main reasons are:

1. The time of the year. Chickens stop laying eggs due to shorter daylight hours.
2. Molting. All protein production is directed towards feather production, not egg production.
3. Stress. Chickens are sensitive creatures and all sorts of things can stress them out and cause them to stop laying.
4. Poor nutrition. Chickens need plenty of plenty of protein, calcium, vitamins, and some grit to aid digestion.
5. Age. As chickens age, their egg production slows and eventually stops altogether.
6. Broodiness. A chicken is putting all her energy into hatching eggs rather than laying eggs.
7. Illness. A chicken who’s not feeling well will be unable to produce as many eggs as a healthy hen.
8. Pests. Pests and insects cause discomfort, irritation, and feather loss. 
9. Extreme weather. Not only can weather conditions cause stress (which negatively impacts egg production), but they can cause physiological changes also.
10. Rambunctious roosters. Hens that feel harassed by a rooster become so stressed that they may stop eating and laying eggs, resorting instead to hiding away.

While some reasons are unavoidable, others can be remedied with our simple methods below so you and your hens can achieve optimal egg production.

Let’s look at why chickens stop laying eggs in detail, and the solutions so we can help our hens feel happy and healthy.

1. Shorter Days

Just as we tend to want to hibernate in the winter, becoming less active and productive, so hens are more reluctant to lay when the days become shorter and colder.

Can you blame them?

While it’s natural for chickens to lay fewer eggs during winter, it’s not always convenient for their owners. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days start shortening at the end of June and only lengthen again after Christmas. During this period, there may be as few as eight hours of light per day. 

Some hardier chicken breeds, such as the Rhode Island Red and Australorp, will battle on, producing almost as many eggs as they do in the summer months. Others, however, need to give their bodies a bit of a break. 

The best way to combat this natural decline is to use artificial lighting to fool the chickens into thinking it’s summer. Coop lights don’t have to be particularly expensive or very bright. The general rule of thumb that all farmers swear by is that the light in your chicken coop should be just bright enough to read – presumably so that the hens can tell each other bedtime stories.

A simple timer means you can easily control when the lights come on and off. Ideally, they should come on early in the morning and shut off just after sunrise so your chickens can rest – without henhouse stress!

The ideal scenario gives your chickens 15 hours of light per day, so if you get eight hours of natural light, seven hours of artificial light should be enough to maintain steady egg production throughout the winter.

2. Molting

Chickens molt every year for around eight to 12 weeks, although many factors influence the frequency. Environment, the age of the chicken, and nutrition all impact the length of the molt. This natural process enables the hen to shed her old feathers and replace them with new ones. It’s also an opportunity to rejuvenate her oviduct – the organ responsible for egg production.

It stands to reason that she’ll also stop laying eggs during this period. Molting can be a stressful time for both chicken and owner, but there are ways of reducing that anxiety. Consider that feathers contain 80 to 85% protein! They have a massive protein demand! A high protein intake can hopefully stimulate the feather regrowth and help them start laying again.

To do this, you can either boost their diet with a high-protein commercial feed or rustle up some homemade molt muffins with a combination of protein-rich ingredients, like oatmeal, sunflowers, and bananas.

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3. Poor Nutrition

Many chicken owners give their hens commercial feeds specifically designed for laying hens. These layer feeds meet all the hen’s nutritional needs and contain plenty of protein, calcium, vitamins, and some grit to aid digestion.

You can also boost egg production by giving your chickens easy access to an oyster shell supplement. Oyster shell supplements (like these ones) can provide your beloved flock with additional vitamins, minerals, and an extra protein boost.

In addition to a balanced diet, chickens need access to clean drinking water, especially in hot weather. If your chickens are thirsty or left without water for an hour or so, it can disrupt their laying pattern, leading to a drop in egg production.

4. Stress

A couple of years ago, a friend brought her children to the farm. Unbeknownst to us, they snuck into the chicken coop and proceeded to try and catch and pet one of the chickens! For two weeks after that event, our chickens were so anxious that they produced no eggs at all. Poor things!

Chickens are sensitive creatures, and all sorts of things can stress them out and cause them to stop laying. Stressful factors include:

• Too many roosters in the flock
• Lack of protection against predators
• Moving or handling the hens
• Change in diet
• Poor ventilation in the coop
• Introducing new hens to the flock
• Extreme weather conditions

Take inventory of stressors in the lives of your chickens. Remove them and watch the happiness (and productivity) of your flock skyrocket.

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5. Broodiness

When a chicken decides it’s time to sit on a clutch of eggs and hatch them, she’ll stop laying eggs altogether, putting all her energy into hatching instead. Some broody hens don’t eat as much! As a result – they may lack the nutrition needed to produce those beautiful farm fresh eggs. 

We usually let our chickens go through their broody periods naturally but sometimes, a little extra help is required. One of my hens sat on eggs for weeks and she showed no signs of quitting. I needed to take extra measures to break her broodiness. Her health was going backward!

If you need to help your hen too, you can:

• Regularly remove the chicken from the nest, luring her with treats or physically picking her up and putting her outside
• Close the nesting area
• Place a bottle of cold or frozen water under the hen while she’s sitting
• Remove all nesting material

There are more suggestions in my article, how to break a broody hen nicely. None of the suggestions above worked for my hen. I resorted to sneaking in at night while she was asleep and removed her from the nesting box. I then placed her on the roost with the other hens. After two nights, she was happily free ranging outside with the rest of the flock.

Also – try to make a habit of collecting eggs regularly. Keep your eyes out for eggs that you may have missed! In our case, the dogs find all those stray eggs – to their great delight!

6. Age

Chickens only produce so many eggs during their lifetime. As they age, their egg production slows and subsequently stops altogether. The productive life of chickens varies from breed to breed, although most will produce an average of 600 eggs in their lifetime.

Therefore, a hen that lays 300 eggs a year will have a productive lifespan of two years, whereas a less prolific breed that lays just 150 eggs per year could continue laying eggs for up to four. There’s very little you can do about an older hen that stops laying, other than invest in a breed that’s known for its longevity, like the Rhode Island Red or Barred Rock.

7. Pests

Last summer, we had a horrible mite infestation in our chicken coop that caused all our hens to go on strike. I can’t blame them – mites are nasty things that cause discomfort, irritation, and feather loss. Lice cause similar problems and can also cause your hens to stop laying. 

As with most pests? Preventing an infestation is much easier than eradicating one!

By checking your coop and hens regularly, keeping your nesting boxes clean, and providing your chickens with a good dust bath, you can control your pest population and maintain egg production.

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8. Illness

A chicken who’s feeling a bit off-color will be unable to produce as many eggs as a healthy hen. A drop in egg production isn’t a definite sign of sickness but, when accompanied by one or more of the following symptoms, the lack of eggs is likely related to ill health:

• Droopy comb
• Diarrhea 
• A drop in energy levels
• Vent discharge
• Trouble walking
• Unwilling to leave the coop

It’s difficult to diagnose the exact cause of a hen’s distress and, if the condition persists, you may want to get a professional opinion from a nearby vet. Alternatively, you can isolate the sick hen for a day or two, give her system a boost by adding electrolytes and vitamins to her water, and see if there are any signs of improvement. Read up on chicken health, and consider growing beneficial herbs for chickens as cover crop in their free-ranging space.

9. Extreme Weather

Not only can extreme weather conditions cause stress that negatively impacts egg production, but they can cause physiological changes that have a similar effect. In tremendously hot weather, chickens will stop laying eggs to reduce the stress on their bodies. 

Given that the ideal laying temperature hovers around 65-75°F, chickens in hotter states like Louisiana and Texas, where the average summer temperature is around 80-85°F, need lots of shade, good coop ventilation, and access to plenty of water. 

You may even want to place a fan in the coop to encourage them to lay eggs or put out water sprinklers to keep them cool. Check out this article for more ideas about keeping your homestead animals cool in summer.

Cold weather can be equally problematic for your backyard flock, although, with coop heaters being both widely available and affordable, it’s easier to deal with than scorching summers. Some chicken breeds are also hardier than others, with Australorps and Plymouth Rocks not minding cold climates.

10. Randy and Rambunctious Roosters

An amorous or lovesick rooster can cause havoc in your backyard flock! Hens that feel harassed by a rooster become so stressed that they may stop eating and laying eggs, resorting instead to hiding away.

They’re trying to they’ll avoid the unruly rooster’s affections. Some roosters are also rough with their hens, causing physical damage and feather loss. 

To combat these problems, you could remove your rooster from the flock, giving him just a couple of days a week to perform his duties. You could also get jackets or saddles for your hens to protect them against potential injury. 

Why Do Your Hens Stop Laying Eggs?

While it is natural for hens to stop laying eggs at certain times of the year and in their lives, it can be frustrating for a backyard chicken owner. It sometimes feels that we’re putting far more effort and money into our hens than we’re getting back in the form of eggs. 

Working out why your chickens have stopped laying is the first step toward remedying the situation. Hopefully, this article will help you figure out what’s preventing your chickens from producing eggs and what you can do to stimulate them back into production.

Let us know if you have tips for healthy egg production – or how to increase egg production safely and humanely?

Thanks for reading – and happy laying!

And, before you go – the list below includes our favorite dried maggots and larvae to really boost your chicken’s nutrition intake. We guarantee they’ll go wild for these!

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