One of our girls starts molting in August usually and doesn't start laying again until spring.She is a great broody though
Yup, not a shock. They really do vary per individual, plus so many factors, especially age.
My own Nugget, who is going on 7 now, has raised numerous batches of chicks, kept them longer than any other broody (once I took away her 15 week old son, lol). Back in 2012, she was broody and at hatch day, down to one egg. She crushed the chick in the egg, and it had to be on purpose-she knew what she was doing, had done this so many times. It was the only time ever she did not make the food call for chicks just before hatch time. After that, this hen who had been broody at least twice a year every year of her life, never went broody again nor did she lay another egg. It was like she'd made an executive decision. Right about the time she killed that chick, her rooster, my big Blue Orpington, Suede, almost 6 years old, passed away. No more eggs from Nugget. Odd, but I feel there may have been a connection somehow.
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