can chickens decide when not to lay?

[rosyposyosy]

she may be hiding her eggs, but i looked everywhere. she is mad at me for switching to shavings, so now i have switched back to straw. can she be picky? can she choose not to lay?

 

[justusnak]

Nope, she cant make that decision. Have you raked through the shaveings? Thats why I dont use them, eggs tend to "get lost" in the shaveings. I use straw...once they shape the nest, nothing rolls out. LOL Might be there is a snake in there getting them? Be carefull! Also, she should be moulting right about now....maybe egg production is slowing down a bit.

 

[rosyposyosy]

she isnt squating anymore - like if i approach her? i am absolutely sure it is not a snake, the only snake i have everseen was a gardner snake left over by an owl (we have a family of owls in one of our oaks) when i switched back to straw i put the shavings (untouched at all) into my chick's brooder which is in the coop now that shes older - and there were no eggs. she went from laying an egg a day for 13 days, to no eggs in 4 days - when i picked her up today she had NO pin feathers at all, so i dont think shes molting...

 

[justusnak]

Hmmmmmm, thats quite puzzling. Have you checked her tummy, to make sure it is not hard? Might she be eggbound? Maybe she is just taking a break? Hope she starts laying soon for ya.