A conundrum! My hen isn't laying...

[Zoopathy]

Here's the dealio:

I have a 10-month-old Easter Egger hen who has, for the past few months, been a very reliable layer. No shell issues, nothing.

About two weeks ago, I stopped getting eggs from her. I've looked throughout my entire property (not *that* big) for a hidden nest--found nothing. She's showing no signs of molt or illness--eyes are bright, appetite is good, poops are normal, feathers are good. Her behavior is relatively normal, but she has been isolating herself a bit when all the girls are out running around. No one is picking on her and her place in the pecking order hasn't changed. She walks fine, though her abdomen feels a bit full. Nothing hard or lumpy in there, though, and she doesn't complain when I palpate.

The only even remotely odd thing that has occurred with any of them recently is that I found what looked like the remnants of a broken yolk in their nesting box more than a month ago. This alone leads me to wonder if she might be egg bound or have suddenly turned into an internal layer. I tried a warm bath, and even a little veggie oil "enema". As I said, she continues to poop just fine.

So...ideas? I'm obviously worried that something horrible is happening inside and I just can't tell. Are there signs I should be looking/feeling for? What other things--besides shorter days--can cause a hen to stop laying? Should I find a poultry vet in my area, or just cross my fingers and hope for the best?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated--I am beside myself with worry at this point.

Thanks...

 

[CoopCrazy]

Sorry I cant help but let see if somone else can chime in....

 

[kasey08]

any chance she is eating them? other then that idk sorry just a thought

 

[Zoopathy]

Nope, she's definitely not eating them--there would be SOME kind of mess, somewhere, indicating that she or one of the others was doing it.

Other ideas? Anyone?

 

[HenThymes]

I am dealing with the same kind of thing. I have a blue bantam orp hen not quite a year old that will lay about 4 eggs over the course of a week or even longer but then won't lay again for over two weeks. It makes me nervous. I have checked her for being egg bound and nope she's not egg bound. Has no signs of sickness, eggs are good as I have several in the bator right now that are vital. I just wish I knew why so spuratic????

 

[Zoopathy]

So how can you tell that she's NOT egg bound? Or how can you tell that she absolutely is, aside from feeling a hard egg? I've contacted an avian vet, but am dreading finding out the costs of an office visit and xrays...

 

[Kittymomma]

Do you have an isolation pen where you could put her for a few days? If she does have a hidden nest somewhere you'll know it because she'll probably flip her lid for a day or two and then give up and lay an egg. I have three EE's and two of them are broody now and the third seems to be headed in that direction. Based on how mine are I think it would be good to isolate her and rule out the possibility of a hidden nest.

ETA: they can do a pretty thorough job of it when they eat eggs, when it's happened here all I've ever found is a small bit of yolk in the shavings. It's not very visiable and is easy to miss unless some smears off on another egg, so don't completely discount egg eating yet either.

 

[b.hromada]

Most of my girls have been on hiatus now for about a month or so!!

They did this to me last year as well.

 

[Zoopathy]

So they sometimes just STOP laying? For no apparent reason?

 

[Cluckhead]

I haven't had an egg from my EE for a few months too. She seems fine though, eats a ton, gets around fine and has a red comb to boot.
I'm new to this (my hens are only aboout a year old now) and from what I've read it's fairly normal this time of year for them to get broody and production to stop for a while. She actually laid through most of the winter stopping in late December. I've had 2 others go broody on me and egg production has been all over the place.

I think that my EE might even be going through a little molt too but I'm not totally sure.