What Causes Chickens to Stop Laying?

Day Length

• The change of seasons is a primary reason for egg production to decline or stop. Chickens are genetically programmed to stop laying when the days grow short because the likelihood of their chicks surviving the winter is small. The cue for this is day length. As daylight shortens in the fall, chickens stop laying and instead molt, or renew their feathers. This can be prevented by providing artificial light in the mornings to create the correct 16-hour daily cycle. It is best to do this with an automated timer because missing even one day can derail egg production.

Diet

• Eggs are a potent combination of fat, protein and vitamins, all neatly packaged in relatively pure calcium. All of those nutrients have to be made available to the hen before she can process them into eggs. One egg represents a significant percentage of the nutritional reserves in a hen's body, so any dietary shortcomings will lead quickly to loss of production. A well-balanced feed is crucial to reliable egg production. If they are deprived of nutrition, chickens often will begin eating each others' eggs in an attempt to make up the deficiencies.

Age and Molting

• Laying eggs is hard work for hens and will wear them out physically over time. A laying cycle can last 50 to 60 weeks, and hens will provide from one to three laying cycles before their production drops away drastically. At the end of a laying cycle, hens will molt. This is a period of rest and renewal for the hen during which her body replenishes itself and prepares for another cycle of egg laying. Older hens may need to molt twice during a given year.

Disease and Other Stressors

• Many other factors have an impact on a hen's ability to continue laying. Disease is an obvious example. If a hen suddenly stops producing and appears listless or ill, segregate her immediately from the rest of the flock. Veterinarians usually need to perform a post-mortem examination of a hen to determine the cause of death and whether the flock is in danger. Other stress factors include excessive heat or cold, the presence of predators, shortage of water and too much handling by humans.