15 month old hen stopped laying weeks ago...now her sister too!

[DraftXJumper]

I am out of ideas...our now almost 15-month-old barred rock abruptly stopped laying almost two months ago. She was a prolific layer. She is bright-eyed, healthy-looking, etc. She is active, eating, drinking, seeks attention, etc. I checked her for mites (plus our coop is plastic which is hard for mites to live in, as I understand it) and had a fecal done (negative). I switched them to a soy-free layer, and maybe that didn't agree with her. I would switch her back to the original layer that I'd been feeding, but I have two 14-week-old pullets in the flock now. My understanding is that with a mixed flock, one should feed a pullet developer or whole flock feed + offer calcium, which I am doing. The new girls made their transition one week ago (switched food at the same time). Now our GL Wyandotte stopped laying :*( I don't know what to do!! All of my chickens are healthy, active, have plenty of coop space and limited free-range room. Our coop gets cleaned out daily. They have a dust bath with DE mixed in. Also, neither of the hens who've stopped laying have shown any signs of molting. Certainly the barred rock hasn't molted and she stopped laying 7-8 weeks ago. Any ideas??

 

[sourland]

The switch in feed may have triggered a break in her laying cycle, but generally when this happens it is accompanied by a molt.

 

[DraftXJumper]

The barred rock still isn't laying. We have three girls who are around 16 months now (barred rock, golden laced wyandotte, easter egger), two five-month-olds, and three three-month-olds. Everyone is together and on chick feed until the youngest girls are older. The flock has access to water in several places, feed in two places, and grit/calcium infused grit/oyster shells. The barred rock is active, not molting, healthy looking, bright-eyed, but no longer laying. She hasn't laid since early June. The other 16-month-olds are laying regularly. Parasite test came back negative. She is at the very top of the pecking order, so being picked on is not an issue for her. They get mealworms regularly as treats, as well as occasionally black oil sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and watermelon when it's hot. I'm out of ideas.

 

[aart]

Sounds like you got a 'lemon'.

 

[DraftXJumper]

Darn it...she is by far our friendliest girl too :*( We are limited in the number of girls we can have, so it doesn't make much sense to keep one as a pet.

 

[aart]

Darn it...she is by far our friendliest girl too :*( We are limited in the number of girls we can have, so it doesn't make much sense to keep one as a pet.

I wonder....if maybe.....she is taking the place of a 'rooster' and thus not laying.
It's a slight possibility, tho a far stretch, and no way to test the theory as you can't add a male.

 

[DraftXJumper]

I had wondered that too, but as you said, there's no way to test it. So frustrating since she's just so friendly, and holds the title of the first hen to ever lay an egg for us.