1 year old hen stopped laying over 2 months

[poplarbird]

We could not figure out what's wrong with her and vet can't tell what's wrong with her. she is 1 year 1 month old, and had stopped laying for 2 months now.

we are in Sydney Australia.

From high summer (January) when the temp went up to over 40 degrees, she started to lay odd shaped eggs and usually 2 eggs one day and then 2 day off laying. I did a lot to help to reduce heat, she continued to behave so we thought she's not copping with heat. It continued in Feb.

In March, a 40 day long rain hit the area, and it was cool and WET. absolutely terrible. We found one round worm in her poo (not 100% sure if hers or the other one's) , we de-worm them and cleaned the whole coop. (17 March)

Since then, she laid one egg every 2-3 weeks ?! ( we got 3 eggs since then)

2 weeks ago she started molting we thought it might stop he from laying as well.

I need advice.

 

[chameleon]

What breed is your hen and what are your temperatures like at the moment?

Molting will definitely stop her laying for about a month, maybe more. And as it's getting nearer winter now, most chickens will slow down, and some completely stop laying for the winter. The very high temperatures are also difficult, so that could definitely have affected her egg laying too. Some breeds tolerate the heat better than others, but 40 is hot for any chicken. I lost one of my Naked Necks to heat stroke last year when it got to over 40, and they are considered very heat tolerant.

I can't say for sure, but she might very well be struggling with the temperature extremes. In summer I would try to provide as much cool shade and water as possible, and on really hot days I give my chickens some cold treats, like lettuce or watermellon straight from the fridge. Chickens tolerate the cold much better as long as there is enough dry, draught free space to take shelter in. But she still might not lay in winter anyway because of the shorter daylight hours.

I hope this helps, let us know how she does.

 

[SueT]

Please also tell us what you are feeding her, if she is free range, etc.

 

[poplarbird]

What breed is your hen and what are your temperatures like at the moment?

Molting will definitely stop her laying for about a month, maybe more. And as it's getting nearer winter now, most chickens will slow down, and some completely stop laying for the winter. The very high temperatures are also difficult, so that could definitely have affected her egg laying too. Some breeds tolerate the heat better than others, but 40 is hot for any chicken. I lost one of my Naked Necks to heat stroke last year when it got to over 40, and they are considered very heat tolerant.

I can't say for sure, but she might very well be struggling with the temperature extremes. In summer I would try to provide as much cool shade and water as possible, and on really hot days I give my chickens some cold treats, like lettuce or watermellon straight from the fridge. Chickens tolerate the cold much better as long as there is enough dry, draught free space to take shelter in. But she still might not lay in winter anyway because of the shorter daylight hours.

I hope this helps, let us know how she does.

Really appreciate.

it's a wyandotte. I just checked the temp. The lowest is around 10 degrees in early morning and by lunch time it's around 20 degree, it gets dark at 5pm.

I hope that molting and winter is main reason not that she is sick.

 

[poplarbird]

Please also tell us what you are feeding her, if she is free range, etc.

she is technically not free range. we built them (3 chooks) a run around the 7 sqm attached to the roost. in summer we let her out in the backyard to forage when we came home from work, in winter(now) it is dark when we got home so they were only "free range" in the weekends for a few hours.

their feed is chicken laying pellets + shell grit. And weekend treats is meal-worm.
occasionally we gave them food scrape, we are very cautious about our food waste so there is not much left daily.

They appear very contented as they know we dont let them out until afternoon and they return to the run by themselves.

 

[chameleon]

Really appreciate.

it's a wyandotte. I just checked the temp. The lowest is around 10 degrees in early morning and by lunch time it's around 20 degree, it gets dark at 5pm.

I hope that molting and winter is main reason not that she is sick.

I believe Wyandottes are reasonably hardy. My landlord has a Wyandotte roo and our summer also reached into the 40s. But even for a very heat tolerant chicken that is uncomfortable, and while they do survive it, they do struggle. Mine just find a cool spot and lie around all day. 10-20 degrees is very comfortable for a chicken, but the early sunset could definitely slow things down. If they seems happy and healthy otherwise, and it's only her laying that's the problem, and you mentioned you had her checked by a vet too, she's probably ok. Just the moulting and winter that's playing havoc.

You also mention that she's confined to a run during the day. That means there are limited places for them to cool down when it gets really hot. I don't know what your setup looks like, but you might need to make more cool shade for them. Maybe plant a tree or some bushes. You may have that already though.

 

[poplarbird]

I believe Wyandottes are reasonably hardy. My landlord has a Wyandotte roo and our summer also reached into the 40s. But even for a very heat tolerant chicken that is uncomfortable, and while they do survive it, they do struggle. Mine just find a cool spot and lie around all day. 10-20 degrees is very comfortable for a chicken, but the early sunset could definitely slow things down. If they seems happy and healthy otherwise, and it's only her laying that's the problem, and you mentioned you had her checked by a vet too, she's probably ok. Just the moulting and winter that's playing havoc.

You also mention that she's confined to a run during the day. That means there are limited places for them to cool down when it gets really hot. I don't know what your setup looks like, but you might need to make more cool shade for them. Maybe plant a tree or some bushes. You may have that already though.

She's back laying! 1 egg over night and another during the day. This is another thing that we don't know how to fix.

During the day, if she's foraging in the backyard she could stand and lay as if the egg's just a huge poop. in rare case she would follow others laying in the laying box.

 

[chameleon]

What do the eggs look like? are they all normal or are they malformed in any way?

 

[poplarbird]

What do the eggs look like? are they all normal or are they malformed in any way?

It's got poor egg shell, the shape usually looks like a red bean. she hardly eats the shell grit so calcium is mainly from layer pullet.

 

[chameleon]

If her eggs are odd that could be why she lays so irregularly, she's probably having trouble passing them. Are the shells soft aswell? Is she happy and healthy otherwise? If her shells are soft I would definitely try to get her to take more calcium. If she doesn't like the shell grit, you could try crushed egg shells, or try mixing it in with something she likes. Otherwise I've heard some people put a calcium supplement in the water, but you will have to be careful that your rooster doesn't drink it.