Hen stopped laying! help!

[IncognitoMode4723]

Mary, one of our three black australorp hens, seems to have
stopped laying eggs about a month ago. she seems to be
sitting down about 50 percent of the time when she's in
the run; however, when we open the run door to walk the
chickens, she runs out just like the other two, and chases
after bugs, runs around, wags her tail (she actually wags her
tail more than the other two), and does all the things a
happy and healthy chicken should do(as do the others).I have
looked up reasons a chicken might stop laying eggs. Some of
the reasons listed are diet, sunlight, stress, disease,
parasites, changes in routine, old age, breed, and molting.

We feed the all chickens Purina Layena layer pellets. It does
not seem as if Mary's appetite or the amount of food or
water she gets has changed since she stopped laying eggs.

she is only 21 months old, so age shouldn't be a problem.
As for molting, it can't be that either because she isn't
losing any feathers. Where we are, we are getting 13 hours of
sunlight, plus the other two chickens are laying so it
doesn't seem like a problem either.

The chickens get to walk
outside of their run for around 2 and a half to three hours
a day, and there is not much to cause them any stress. For
example; there isn't much threat from predators (we live in
the suburbs); there have been no additions to the "flock",
none of the chickens is especially aggressive; there are no
roosters so she cant be broody; the temperatures when she stopped laying were in
the 80s to 70s, temperatures they have all handled well;
their routine has had little to no change.

However a bunny keeps coming into the yard which seems to alarm them a little. He also poops in the yard.

Their breed, mentioned before is australorp, who lay a lot of
eggs, and they are all young so that couldn't be it.

parasites:
They don't seem to have parasites, they don't leave bloody
feathers around, they aren't lethargic, they don't preen
overly much, and i don't see anything on their skin or around
their vents, although i should check more often.

they don't really seem to have disease either, although i
suppose i am not one hundred percent sure. as i mentioned
earlier, Mary seems to sit often in the run, but she does
act energetic when she gets out. in their poo (i am not sure
it is all of them or 1 or 2 of them) i see a lot of small
yellow pieces. These pieces don't move, and i have seen- in our
backyard- a lot of plants that have small yellow seeds on
them, and i have seen the chickens eat them. The yellow pieces are probably seeds.

today, Mary dropped a yellow poo that was slightly more foamy poo than usual.

I saw one other odd looking poop several days ago. It looked like a red gel-like material in it. I have only seen this type of poop once or twice.

there was a couple times over the years they pooed in their
drinker and i forgot to clean it. i think i should probably
clean their drinker and feeder more often.

I also know that she is not laying eggs in a hidden spot because the hens do not walk in the yard unsupervised.

i don't know what is going on with Mary, but i am worried it
might be something bad.

please read all of the above and tell me your thoughts.

 

[rosemarythyme]

there are no
roosters so she cant be broody

Broodiness has nothing to do with roosters, it's all hormonal. Hens can go broody without roosters, without fertile eggs, sometimes without eggs at all.

My guess is she might be partially broody, but may or may not go all the way.

As far as your poops, the yellowish one is a cecal poop and the other one, the reddish stuff is intestinal lining, which chickens shed in their poop every once in a while. Both are normal things.

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

Thank you very much for the reply. I am new to chickens so of course Mary not laying eggs really made me nervous. I do have some more questions though. Can she be broody without a change in behavior? I thought broody hens were more aggressive when you try to move them. She hasn't been acting any different. She also gets up pretty often to eat and drink.

She hasnt really been sitting in the nesting box. She sits outside it. Today however I saw her run to the nestbox as if she might go in. She peered inside but she didnt go in. Although it is possible she wants to lay outside the box. There were some times when I didn't give them the nestbox because I needed to repair it and they got used to laying outside the box.

I was also wondering if it's bad for her to be broody so long without laying. Is there anything I can do to help her or should I just leave her alone?

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

Not all broodies are aggressive. Some are for sure, others are just crankier than usual.

Assuming that the stoppage in laying is due to her being partially broody I'm not aware of any way to "treat" it. Can't break broodiness until they decide to be broody (at which point it's generally pretty straight forward). One of my girls has been halfway broody for the last few weeks (puffing up, sometimes lazes in a nest box for hours) and it comes and goes, but since she's not committing I just leave it alone. Mine is still laying though.

When my other two hens lay eggs (which I sometimes leave in the box for hours) I have never seen Mary sit on them.

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

I forgot to mention, but Mary and the other two hens recently had bumblefoot - it never got that bad or swollen. I pulled off the scabs and there was a small amount of yellow material inside which I removed and then I bandaged their feet. It got better eventually but off and on one of the hens gets a little dark-colored scab on their foot. I pulled them off again but there was nothing underneath this time.

In fact, Mary still has a tiny scab on her foot. I check it often to make sure it doesnt get any worse.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not all broodies are aggressive. Some are for sure, others are just crankier than usual.

Assuming that the stoppage in laying is due to her being partially broody I'm not aware of any way to "treat" it. Can't break broodiness until they decide to be broody (at which point it's generally pretty straight forward). One of my girls has been halfway broody for the last few weeks (puffing up, sometimes lazes in a nest box for hours) and it comes and goes, but since she's not committing I just leave it alone. Mine is still laying though.

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

She didn't get to sit on it for much more than an hour or two (we came to collect it).

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

I can leave an egg with Mary next time to see how long she sits on it.

Today when I came outside to move the run and take out the hens, I saw Mary sitting on an egg. I took them out, and Mary came out but hung around the run. I picked her up and moved her away but she ran back to be around the egg. I moved her again but she kept running back. I also saw her picking at her feathers around her belly. After I put them back in the run, she went back to sit on her egg. She only moved around a little, but immediately rolled the egg back under her. She seemed reluctant to get up at all, not even to eat or drink.

Earlier when she was out of the run I showed her the palm of my hand and she arched her neck over my hand and looked down at it in the same motion she makes when rolling eggs under her. I have heard that the longer broody hens sit on their eggs they could become aggressive. I do not want her to become aggressive. If I took the egg from her, would that help?

 

[IncognitoMode4723]

When my other two hens lay eggs (which I sometimes leave in the box for hours) I have never seen Mary sit on them.

I saw Mary sitting on one of the other girl's eggs just now!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I saw Mary sitting on one of the other girl's eggs just now!

For how long? If she sits most of the day and more importantly, overnight, that's a sign of broodiness.

If she sits for a bit and then leaves and doesn't come back, then she just likes the sensation of warm eggs under her belly (or she just likes lounging in the nests, which some of my birds do from time to time).