Agriculture 10 Common Reasons Why Chickens Aren't Laying Eggs and How to Fix Them

You might be really busy at work and away from the farm for hours on end. But when you do get home, you are faced with an exhausted flock of chickens that just won't seem to perk up.

I want to share with you some of my most common reasons why your chickens aren't laying eggs and how to fix them.

Hopefully, after reading this, you will have a much better understanding of your birds and how to encourage them back into their egg-laying routine.

Let's dive in!

Here are some of the top 10 things you should look at when you notice your birds are not laying.

1. Source of Chicks
2. Diet
3. Water supply
4. Noise
5. Lighting
6. Age
7. Moulting
8. Pest and Disease Control
9. Stress-Weather, Change of Feed, Debeaking/Vaccinations
10. Breed

1. Source of Chicks​

It is essential to understand that different breeds have different characteristics regarding laying and feeding. Therefore, source your birds from reputable farms,
and hatcheries. To avoid disappointment, choose a hatchery carefully. Also, as a farmer, doing the necessary research on the breeds available goes without saying.

2. Diet​

Choosing the right food from the very beginning. The best quality feed must provide a balanced ratio for your laying birds. It does not hurt to research other successful farmers to find out the best quality feeds on the market. The lack of a balanced ratio will lead to problems in the flock.

Calcium supplementation is encouraged for stronger eggshells. An abrupt change in feeds will cause a decrease in egg production because different companies vary in feed formulation ingredients. It does take time for the laying birds to conform to the new feeds, which decreases egg production.
Change in feed should be a gradual process to avoid the decline in egg production, especially for those farmers in commercial production. It is also advisable to maintain a consistent schedule and routine; Feeding at regular intervals, collecting eggs at regular intervals, etc.

3. Water Supply​

Always provide clean water for your birds. Remember, if you cannot drink it, then it's not suitable for your birds either. Ensure the drinkers are thoroughly cleaned every morning and fresh water is given to the birds. Also, aim at providing enough water stations for your flock.

Birds are said to take twice as much water as they feed.

4. Noise​

Chickens are sensitive to loud noises like cars passing by or dogs barking. They're prey animals, after all! If you hear loud noises near your coop at night or early in the morning when chickens tend to lay eggs, try covering up their window with cardboard or something similar.

Make sure they don't get startled into fright when they hear something unexpected outside their window. This will make them forget about the laying.

5. Lighting​

Lighting is a critical element for laying birds.14-16 hours is required for consistency in egg production. Due to a change in daylight hours over different seasons, It is impossible to get sustained natural light for 14 hours. Therefore, it is recommended to provide artificial light to cover this deficit.

Important lighting aspects include duration( the length of time), intensity( source of light and its location), and spectrum( bulb color). These three are very important, especially for commercial farms that want to build an effective lighting program for their flocks.

6. Age​

Laying hens will begin to lay most likely between 16 and 18 weeks. Do not expect them to lay before that. Hens will then lay for 50 to 60 weeks and break during a moulting period. Hens will resume laying after the first moult but keep going into the moult every year.

Poorer layers will moult more often, affecting the number of eggs laid.

7. Moulting​

Moulting is a natural process in laying hens where they shed off their feathers and renew them. During this time, birds will stop laying eggs and refocus their energy on the growth of new feathers. Therefore, as a farmer, it's important to continue feeding a good quality balanced diet even at moulting.
Your chickens have individual personalities, and they will go through the moulting process differently. Others will lose a few feathers and grow them back as quickly as a few weeks. Other chickens lose many feathers, and it takes 12–16 weeks to grow them back.

Tips for handling chickens during moulting​

• Reduce or cause as little stress as possible.
• "The chicken should be in their everyday behavior." If not, they look sickly.
• Something is wrong and will require your attention.
• Avoid handling birds during this time. It causes pain and more stress.
• Laying hens will lose feathers in a sequence kind of way, beginning with the head, followed by the neck and down the back, then across the breast area, and eventually their tail feathers. The emerging feathers are referred to as pinfeathers and will grow in following the same sequence they were lost.
• Moulting is a known normal which is natural. Moulting involves the process of shedding feathers and having them re-grow. The best thing you can do to help your chickens through moult is to feed a high-quality, high-protein layer diet.

8. Pest, Disease, and Parasite Infestation​

These three can cause significant losses if not kept under control. As a farmer, pest and disease control is a must if you want to see success in your farming business. Of course, adhering to vaccination schedules goes without saying as well.

Parasite control is an important aspect of keeping lice and mites under manageable conditions if not eliminated. Having a routine for cleaning up the chicken house and applying poultry dust is recommended to keep such things under control. In addition, regular deworming is recommended to control worm infestation, which would also cause a decline in egg production.

9. Stress: Due to weather, change of feed, debeaking/vaccination, or overstocking.​

Any stress will cause a decrease in egg production. For example, provide enough space in the chicken coup by adhering to recommended spacing for layers and ensuring they have comfortable areas for laying their eggs.

Weather changes will also cause stress and lead to a decline in egg production. In addition, vaccination will cause tension in the birds, reducing egg production.

10. Breed​

Breed selection is vital to making an informed decision from the start. The kind of chicken you select to keep depends on the end product you are interested in. It is always essential to understand these aspects as a farmer, so you start right. Do your research well.

Final Thoughts ​

Numerous factors will affect your birds' ability to lay eggs. The ones mentioned above are the major ones. Proper record-keeping for a farmer is mandatory to know what is happening on the farm. An adequately kept record will give a history that can aid in the appropriate diagnosis of the problem at hand.

According to Patrick Biggs, Ph.D. (Nutritionist, Companion Animal Technical Solutions), Chickens may cease laying eggs for a number of reasons. Light, stress, inadequate nutrition, molting, and old age are just a few of the things that might cause hens to lay fewer eggs. Some of them are just the body's way of reacting, while others can be easily remedied so that normal egg laying can resume.

If you experience a drop in egg production, refer to your documents or ask yourself these simple questions:

• How old are my birds?
• Am I feeding the correct feed rations?
• Have I recently changed the feed?
• Is the feed of preferred quality without any toxins?
• How much light is my flock exposed to?
• How clean and poultry friendly is my chicken coup/house?
• Have the birds been given adequate clean water?
• Any signs of disease?
• Are there parasites?
• Any other stressful factors in the environment?

And so many others that you can add to the list. The above shows how sensitive laying hens are, and that's why it's essential to understand what could be causing the egg production decline so that, as a farmer, you can attend to it soonest and get back to profitable production.