EE stopped laying. Should I worry?

[animalgrl]

My EE, who is about 10 months old, was regularly laying an egg every other day. The last egg she laid was last Friday (6 days ago). Is it just that the days are getting short? I'd say we're getting about 10.5 hours of daylight right now, and I'm in the SF Bay area, so temperatures are not cold (nighttime lows have been around 50, daytime temps 65-80). She seems to be acting fine and eating and drinking. Should I worry at this point, or has she just stopped laying do to the shorter days?

 

[nchls school]

Hens will stop laying because of less light, but it could also be stress, diet, molting, etc. You'd be wise to keep an eye on her. I would not worry much about it though. It is not unusual for a hen to simply take a break.

 

[JJWHITE]

We have 11 hens and during the summer we were getting 6 - 8 eggs every day. In the last two weeks the laying dropped drastically. We are getting 2-3 eggs every day now. We installed a light in the coop a few days ago. With that they are getting 12 hours of light every day now. We'll see how that goes. They are also molting right now so I am sure that's part of the issue. This is our first go at having chickens and are learning a lot. Next issue will be how to keep the water from freezing in the winter.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Every EE I ever owned quit laying for the winter, even the first season, it does depend on what mixes they are but I have found them to be unreliable, they are bred more for egg color not production.

 

[animalgrl]

Thanks! I've had bad chicken luck so far, so I'm a little paranoid. But I don't want to be looking for trouble. I'll keep an eye on her for now.

 

[7littlegirls]

I'm down on the egg count also. Short days and molting

But my EE is one that gives me eggs even with molting