Is it 'normal' for chickens to stop laying in hot/humid weather?

[stealthsquiggle]

..only our egg count seems to have gone down drastically over the last week. I don't have time to hunt all over the (large) garden, but I don't think they are laying somewhere other than in the nest box - I left them in their run until 1pm today and still only got 1 egg and 1 soft shell between 4 of them (soft shell not unusual - we have one crap layer, but usually get 3 a day from the others)

All suggestions welcome.

no suggestions, but ours are definitely not laying as well as usual.

Not just ours, then... The chicken-sitters (aka my parents) are not going to be very impressed when we go away

Ours aren't laying well. I remember an old farmer telling me a couple of years ago that it was common for hens to stop laying so well during the 'dog days' of the summer (although dog days don't normally start till July iirc)

when we had our first lot, they had only just come into lay when we went away, and they stopped laying completely, our poor neighbour got a raw deal.

Decisions, decisions....assuming the chooks do not sort themselves out, do I tell my parents (thus decreasing their enthusiasm for chicken-sitting) or keep quiet (risking them worrying about what they have done wrong)?

well, if they are laying something I think I'd just be vague about expected 'yields' then they won't worry.