BCM stopped laying, do I need to worry

[Zwillingsmama]

My 44 week old BCM layed faithfully 6-7 eggs every week for the past 10 weeks. 3 days ago she stopped laying. She looks and acts totally normal, no sign of sickness. I have 4 other chicken and they lay like normal. Do I need to worry or is that just that she takes a break.
I checked her crop and its empty in the morning - poop is normal. I can see no sign of anything wrong with her

 

[azygous]

Her behavior, aside from not laying recently, will tell you if you need to worry. Watch for her spending long periods on a nest without laying an egg. If she does this a few days in a row, along with progressive lethargy, loss of appetite, and a tail held low and flat, she could have a stuck egg.

However, another reason for eggs to stop is a hen may decide to go broody. You will know this by her behavior change to crabbiness, a desire to spend all her time on a nest and being outraged if you try to remove her.

Or, she could just be taking a break, a sort of "reset". In this case, laying should resume after a couple weeks rest.

 

[Zwillingsmama]

I guess one egg got somehow stuck. Today I found 2 eggs from her. One was smashed / broken and the other one with an unusual color for her and smaller than usual. I just hope this solved her problem. Thanks for the reply.

 

[azygous]

It's good to find out for sure what her problem was. Coincidentally, I have a hen at this moment doing the exact same thing. This morning she laid a very strangely shaped thin-shell egg. Since then, she hasn't felt well and is in a nest trying to get the second egg out.

This happens some times with layers. Immediately when an egg issue such as this occurs, I give a calcium citrate tablet with D-3. This almost always helps get that second egg out and it can even "reset" the proper timing of ovulation.

I suggest you do the same with your hen, even though she managed to get both eggs out. One tablet today, and another tomorrow should do it. Then remember this next time. I keep the bottle of calcium tablets handy in the run so I can treat immediately.