My 9 month old Black Sex Link hen has suddenly been missing days egg laying. What could be the issue

[SuburbChickens]

My 9 month old Black Sex Link hen has suddenly been missing days egg laying. What could be the issue? We haven't changed up feed or snacks (oats & mealworms), but we did recently build a chicken run onto the coop that houses 2 other chickens besides herself..that is the only change. All 3 chickens get along well and are let out to free range during the day. They only are closed inside the run at night and also when we are doing yard work during the day (which is once a week for a an hour. There is plenty of room, water, and chicken feed inside the run and they can also go insidr the coop. There is also plenty of shade and a fan tunning throughout the day. It has been hot here for months and still is, but she has been laying an egg wvery day since June until now, She suddenly has missed 3 days within the week. What could be the issue? We could really use some help or insight, as we are still pretty new to raising chickens. She is our oldest hen - the other 2 are 4 month old GLW's. We appreciate your advice..thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hens take breaks from laying for various reasons, sex links are a breed that doesn't often take a break. Not every hen lays every day, so I wouldn't worry about it. Weather changes, adding new members, and really anything different from their usual routine can be a catalyst, but sometimes they just quit for a while. She will resume when she is ready.

 

[chickens really]

Young Pullets lay lots of eggs....Summer is almost over also...As you said she is older.
Some hens only lay two, three or four times a week....

She is fine...

 

[SuburbChickens]

Okay thank you. I won't worry then. I just wondered if something was wrong since she has laid an egg every day since June until missing 3 out of the last 5 days this week. She has lived with the other 2 chickens (now 4 months) pretty much since they were old enough to integrate them - we raised all 3 from a week old - and they get along well. So the only change was the chicken run, which made wonder if that would have thrown her off a bit. Anyway, it sounds like I shouldn't worry. Except there is one other thing that does worry me a bit..she recently cracked the tip of her beak somehow and I wondered if that be bothering her. I don't know if that would be causing her pain or not, but she's acting pretty normal except for not laying the eggs.

 

[chickens really]

Okay thank you. I won't worry then. I just wondered if something was wrong since she has laid an egg every day since June until missing 3 out of the last 5 days this week. She has lived with the other 2 chickens (now 4 months) pretty much since they were old enough to integrate them - we raised all 3 from a week old - and they get along well. So the only change was the chicken run, which made wonder if that would have thrown her off a bit. Anyway, it sounds like I shouldn't worry. Except there is one other thing that does worry me a bit..she recently cracked the tip of her beak somehow and I wondered if that be bothering her. I don't know if that would be causing her pain or not, but she's acting pretty normal except for not laying the eggs.

You answered your own question....Her beak and the changes have thrown her off....Chickens do not handle change or stress very well...In time she will start laying again...

Cheers!

 

[SuburbChickens]

Hi again, I have one more question to ask. We had suspected that one of our three chickens was actually a rooster, instead of a hen like we were told. We are certain that he is a rooster now though, because he started crowing early this morning. We are not supposed to have roosters in our neighborhood (I think because of how noisy her ), so we're going to try making our own no crow Velcro collar and see if that works..but it won't address the fact that he will want to mate with our other two hens at some point & we don't want any more babies. We can only have up to 3 hens in our neighborhood according to the covenants here. One hen is nine months old and the other is four months old; same age as Nugget is.he's a very nice rooster and has not been aggressive really with our 2 hens or our 2 miniture snauzers. He chases the one hen (Willow) that he's very close to, or bonded with, around the yard, but she chases him right back and it seems very playful. Could this be the reason that our other hen -the nine month old - may have stopped laying eggs momentarily though?

 

[SuburbChickens]

You answered your own question....Her beak and the changes have thrown her off....Chickens do not handle change or stress very well...In time she will start laying again...

Cheers!

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[SuburbChickens]

Young Pullets lay lots of eggs....Summer is almost over also...As you said she is older.
Some hens only lay two, three or four times a week....

She is fine...

Thank you!