Pullet has not laid an egg in a week

[Pats Poultry]

Hi All,
I have been out of touch for a while as summer is in full effect. I do apologize for that. I am a little concerned about one of my pullets. I only have three but one seemed to go broody last Monday as she was on a nest for a day and a half. As I was checking for eggs the second day from the other two she started to growl at me. I reached in the get the 2 eggs for the other two and thought I would pet her. Big mistake as she bit me and really started to growl. I reached in again and shooed her out and she left in a big hurry. The egg that she was sitting on was hers and that was the last egg she has laid since. Going on eight days now. She does not go into the coop during the day but does go in to roost at night. She is doing all of the normal things that chickens do and does not look like anything is wrong with her. I have read that stress can effect laying. The heat around here is now in the high 80's reaching mid 90"s a couple of days a week. Not a lot of treats and plenty of water. No predators around that I am aware of. Should I be worried or is this kind of behavior fairly normal. Kinda lost on this one.

 

[jolly wattles]

I have a ee doing the exact same thing now. She won't lay but will lay on the other hens eggs until we gather them. Then she leaves the nest and acts like all the other. Strange kinda broody but I ain't worried about her. Now if she starts staying in the nests all day and night. I'll attempt to break her by caging her.

 

[animalgrl]

In my experience, they won't lay for a week or two after going broody.I have a small flock and have had two of my girls go broody. I had to put both in a wire care to break them. I broke my broody Easter Egger last week. She hasn't laid an egg in about a week and a half. It usually takes them a little bit of time to start laying again.

 

[Tlmcq]

Could be a couple factors...they do stop laying when they go broody, so may take a bit for her to come out of that. Also, heat can be a factor in addition to stress. As long as she seems healthy and is eating/drinking normally I would just keep eye on her. I'm going to assume she doesn't have worms due to laying well before going broody, but that is another reason they will have trouble laying or not lay. I would suspect that it is the broodiness that has her stopped laying and will start back soon. Just keep eye on her for any new symptoms just in case something else is Going on with her.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

In my experience, they won't lay for a week or two after going broody.I have a small flock and have had two of my girls go broody. I had to put both in a wire care to break them. I broke my broody Easter Egger last week. She hasn't laid an egg in about a week and a half. It usually takes them a little bit of time to start laying again.

X 2...

Maybe you harassing her was enough to break her early on but the body still has to fall in line. Going broody and egg laying are triggered by hormones. Takes a bit for them to level back off.

 

[Pats Poultry]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking the worst for this pullet. I am hopeful that she will start laying again soon. On a side note, I did not think that chickens will go to that extreme to protect an egg. I have gained a whole new level of respect for my birds. I now have to go tend to my bloody stump.

 

[Becky128]

I have two broody Brahma's! They've been broody a month! It's really hard to break them and they're so crabby! Last time, we just kept pulling them out when we saw they were in there!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have two broody Brahma's! They've been broody a month! It's really hard to break them and they're so crabby! Last time, we just kept pulling them out when we saw they were in there!

It's not that hard to break them...

Put them in a wire bottom cage or milk crate with NO bedding, elevated slightly off the ground, in a high flock traffic area where there is PLENTY of light. Some hens will take 5 days, some only 1... Keep them in it over night as well. Provide food and water or release to get food and water and check if they run back to their brooding spot.... OR give them some chicks!

Seriously a month is too long to let your birds lose condition. They become shaky and frail and weight loss is often significant.

My first broody hens were in there a month before I decided I had to take action. I will NEVER wait that long again if they aren't hatching chicks. It is a hormonal thing, so even removing eggs doesn't help... they will brood air! You need to break them.

 

[Pats Poultry]

Just a quick update on my broody pullet. We finally got an egg from her today. It has been 2 days shy of five weeks since she went broody and last laid an egg. I thought that there was an underlying problem with her but I am gong to assume that it takes some chickens longer than others to get back to normal. Hopefully she won't go broody for a while. On a side note, my bloody stump from her has healed nicely

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Just a quick update on my broody pullet. We finally got an egg from her today. It has been 2 days shy of five weeks since she went broody and last laid an egg. I thought that there was an underlying problem with her but I am gong to assume that it takes some chickens longer than others to get back to normal. Hopefully she won't go broody for a while. On a side note, my bloody stump from her has healed nicely

Congrats on the egg!

It's true each hen is an individual and will do things when THEIR body is ready. Is that 5 weeks since she went broody or since you broke her? For me, it's usually 2 ish weeks AFTER breaking.

I have allowed so many hens to brood this season, And broken just as many as that. Some more than twice in both cases. Think I finally broke my last girl yesterday! Now to see how long it takes before another hen gets all hormonal..