Can chickens be barren?

[Ridgerunner]

Where did you get her? If from a breeder she might be a true Ameraucana but if from a hatchery she almost certainly is an EE. EE’s are not a breed, they are essentially a barnyard mutt that might lay a blue, green, pink, white, or brown egg of any shade. Since they are essentially mixed chickens they might start to lay early or late or they might lay seldom or often. Since they are not a breed they don’t have breed tendencies. Plus individuals in even purebred birds from the same flock can vary tremendously in when they start laying or how often they lay.

Hens do not need 12 hours of daylight to ovulate or 14 hours of daylight to lay eggs. I usually have hens laying an egg a day in the middle of December when the length of day is less than 10 hours. Length of day is not the determining factor. Length of day can have an influence in how often they lay for some hens, but that’s because their body used daylight to regulate when a yolk is released to form an egg so they don’t wind up needing to lay at night. The less daylight the less often they release a yolk.

Days getting longer or shorter has a lot more influence on when they start or if they continue. If you are in the northern hemisphere where the days are getting shorter that might have an influence on when she starts, but I’ve had EE pullets start laying in the middle of December, during the shortest days of the year and with the days getting marginally shorter. I’ve had EE’s start to lay at 18 weeks, I’ve had EE’s start to lay at 9 months.

To your basic question, is it possible for a hen to be barren? You are dealing with living animals so yes it is possible. You just don’t get guarantees on behavior with living animals. Is it likely, no, but it is possible. To me there are three main possibilities, each more likely than her being permanently barren. She may be hiding a nest, she may be laying an egg not blue or green, or she may just not have started yet.

 

[sourland]

Yes, chickens can be barren, and it is not uncommon in older/spent hens. My gut says your bird has just not started laying yet, has a hidden nest, or is laying a brown egg. EE because of their mixed heritage sometimes start later than other breeds.

 

[lazy gardener]

For the most part, I've always known EE to start laying early, though the one I have now is an exception to that claim! My experience with Ameraucanas (have had 2) is that they are later to start. Agreed with above posters, she may be laying a brown egg, or laying in the yard if she has free range.

 

[Wol1]

We had an "Amercauna" (almost certainly an Easter Egger) who never laid an egg to our knowledge. NEVER saw her in a nest box unless she was hiding from the others (she was LOW in the pecking order). Looked everywhere for eggs. Vent always small and dry. Never squatted like a laying hen. She was a mystery. I think I posted about her on here a few years ago. She finally died of old age related problems.

On the other hand, we've had some of these start laying at 15 weeks.

I have read that some chickens are internal egg layers, which is ultimately fatal. We worried about that, too, but she'd have to be fertile, which the vent evidence didn't support. She also had none of the "penguin walking" symptoms and lived for 3 1/2 years. You may want to look up the signs of internal laying. There are some threads on this site about it.

 

[janneluecke]

Thank you all. I know it's been a while. I just read all your responses. Been busy. What I know is, she is definitely a she, she does not have a hidden stash, she is healthy, and I've never seen her even interested in the nesting boxes. Must just be a late bloomer. I don't really care if she never lays, they are more just pets to me, but I've been looking forward to seeing that first blue egg. Maybe someday......

 

[speckledhen]

All my other girls started laying between 20 and 25 weeks old but my Americauna is not laying yet at 32 weeks. I did read that their normal is 25 to 30 weeks, a little older than most but I wonder if there are some chickens that are just barren and may never lay. Has anyone ever heard of this or had experience with this or Americaunas in general?

I'm not sure if you have Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers. I find that they are a little different in laying schedules, but then, so is each hen. My second latest layer ever was my now almost 10 yr old Easter Egger hen, June. She laid her first egg at 40 weeks. My other one is 1/2 true Ameraucana and 1/2 Easter Egger and she laid much earlier, can't recall exactly when, though.

I believe all my blue/black/splash Ameraucanas laid much earlier than that, before 30 weeks, but each bird is individual. You can't really go by a breed norm, not really.

As far as can they be duds? Anything is possible, yes, but it would be very rare.

 

[Mainer Chickens]

Hi all, very interesting conversation - I'd like to join in here. I have what we call a 'scratch and dent' EE hen. We got her with a group of pullets. She was smaller and looked as though she'd been pecked at before we got her - definitely lowest in the pecking order. She's always VERY anxious and walks backwards and sideways when it rains or snows - it's quite entertaining to watch. She was the last to start laying last year and I only saw her in the nesting box once. It appeared she had large, greenish eggs so we could tell which ones were hers and it seemed she laid infrequently. Our little family of 4 hens got disrupted this past Spring when 2 of the 4 were taken by an owl. That sent the remaining 2 into a tailspin. One developed an enlarged crop (thought it was sour but she's doing fine other than the ball hanging from her chest - she eats and poops and is active and appears healthy although she now lays infrequently). We introduced 2 new pullets - both are laying well - but scratch 'n dent is more nervous than ever and I don't think she's laid any eggs this year. Has anyone else had anxious hen syndrome? Not sure she'll ever lay again.

 

[Folly's place]

Mainer, sorry for your losses; chicken keeping is tricky sometimes.
Your hen with the big crop; keep track of her body condition, because many/ most hens like this will gradually get thinner, thinner, and way too thin. They will 'act fine' until too weak to cope, and are basically starving to death. Make sure that your girl isn't one of these! Mary

 

[MasAhora]

I would say that it would be kinda hard for a chicken to be barren in the way that you are using it. A hen is like a woman, but instead of having "monthlies" a hen has "dailys" or at the most "weeklies" so, a barren woman typically still ovulates, but just doesn't get pregnant, a hen not laying eggs isn't ovulating either which should indicate a problem.

Now, being a late bloomer makes sense, but not living a life without ovulating (though it would be awesome if that could work with people)

Thank you!!!!! This post made me giggle I'm gonna laugh about monthlies, weeklies and dailys.... for quite a while.
As a woman I guess I should be happy to not have the weeklies or daily's

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I had a Silkie hen that never laid. I was told that even though hens have two ovaries, only one functions to produce eggs, and that my Silkie may have had a problem with that ovary that prevented her from laying.