My hens have stopped laying!

• Stress – Often if birds have undergone a stressful situation such as a thunderstorm the first the owner may know about it is when their birds have stopped laying. Although obviously it is impossible to control events such as the weather! It is important to minimise as many potentially stressful situations as possible such as providing a fox proof hen house. The good news is that most hens will continue to lay once the stressful situation has been resolved.


• Diet – It is important to feed a high quality layers feed such as Natural Free Range Layers Pellets/Meal which will provide birds with all the nutrients they need to stay healthy and lay good sized eggs. It is a false economy to just feed corn or scraps as the diet is likely to be deficient in protein and minerals. An unbalanced diet can lead to hens laying infrequently or not at all. It is also important to remember to feed layers pellets/meal in the morning and other treats such as corn in the afternoon only, otherwise the birds will fill up on the corn first and eat fewer pellets causing their diet to become unbalanced.


• Ill health – It goes without saying that your birds should be checked daily for any signs of ill health and treated appropriately. Good management and hygiene will go a long way to help to minimise the risk of disease.


• Moulting  – Moulting normally occurs during late summer or autumn. When birds are going through a moult they will stop laying as their energy is focused on the growth of new feathers. It is important to continue feeding a high quality layers feed such as Natural Free Range Layers Pellets to ensure that your birds are receiving adequate energy and protein for feather growth, if a balanced diet is not provided the hen’s laying performance may be affected in the future.


• Egg laying is also dependent on the amount of daylight hours and as the days get shorter in the autumn the amount of eggs produced will also decrease, unless of course artificial lighting is provided.