Barred Rock stopped laying, has restarted

[jeffnolan]

One of my barred rock hens is a year old and had been successfully laying eggs at a good rate. I should add that the eggs were thin-shelled despite having oyster shell readily available.

She stopped laying eggs and I was concerned about her. I monitored her and thought that she might be suffering from a calcium deficiency so I fed her some Tums. I could feel an egg in her, I gave her a warm water bath. The next morning I found an egg under her roost, but it was gelatinous, not at all hard shelled. Later that day I found another egg in the nest box, a miniature egg. That was about a month ago, she had not laid eggs since then.

This hen is otherwise healthy, eats well and is active. Her disposition is just like my other barred rock hens. I assumed something malfunctioned inside her and I now had a hen that was pretty much a pet.

Two days ago I found an egg in the morning, and I knew it did not come from my other hens, and yesterday and today the count was an egg from each hen. So she is now laying again. Any thoughts?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Some hens take breaks throughout the season, so I wouldn't worry about her. The soft shelled egg was probably from the stress of you soaking and poking her.

Egg bound hens are rare, and always very sick, so I don't think your hen had anything wrong with it. Most of my hens don't lay continuously or daily.

 

[jeffnolan]

Thanks