Three flocks not laying

[flamesong]

My Marans seem to have stopped laying about a week ago and my girlfriend just told me that hers stopped laying about the same time. Today we bumped into a mutual friend who told us that a flock of about 200 free range hens about ten miles away have virtually stopped as well. I don't actually know anybody else with hens around here (Perthshire) to ask if theirs are laying.

I'm pretty much a novice, so I just scratched my head and fed them more layers pellets but now I'm curious if anybody else has any information which might enlighten me. It's almost midsummer - why would so many hens not be laying.

 

[foxy]

I don't know, there are so many variables that can affect the laying cycle, a brief hot spell followed by a cool spell in one locality may be the cause of your hens off lay period.

 

[chrismahon]

Most of ours have stopped laying. The weather has been really erratic here -12 degrees and heavy rain Thursday and 32 degrees forecast today. Only the TNN's are unaffected with 9 hens giving 9 eggs a day. Some hens are now moulting though as I've seen wing feathers lying about (the small feathers get eaten).