Chicken suddenly stopped laying

[Monarchfarm]

I’ve got a hen who suddenly stopped laying and I am unsure if I need to watch out for any illnesses.
My girl, Linda, is an about two year old Amerucana hen who was laying consistently until a few weeks ago. Since then, we have not found a single egg from her. There has been no changes recently, based on all the articles I’ve found she is getting all the right nutrition, she is not being broody, and she seems very happy with no signs of illness. They get about an acer to explore freely, so I of course went around checking to see if she had a hidden spot, but I found nothing. The three other hens in our flock show no signs of illness and have been giving us about 5 eggs a week. We had a small outbreak of what we think was coccidia with our chicks, but there has been no direct contact between the two. There is a chance I touched the chicks then went out and touched our hens once, but I was pretty careful not to. While it is starting to heat up where I live, last summer, the slow in egg laying didn’t come till it got much hotter.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I’m no expert but...Is your Americauna really an Easter Egger? Mine stopped laying about this time last year for a few weeks, and then resumed. She seems to molt her neck feathers in the Spring/Summer so I assume it has to do with the molting though I could be wrong.

I currently have a Buff Orpington who stopped laying for a couple of weeks now. I’m guessing she has reproductive issues due to frequent shell-less or misshapen eggs or...stress related to flock changes. We lost a flock member to death in the last couple of months and another one was moved to a separate enclosure because she was broody and is raising chicks. Have you had any such changes to your flock? I heard this could be a cause too.

 

[aart]

They get about an acer to explore freely, so I of course went around checking to see if she had a hidden spot, but I found nothing.

Sometimes they just take a break.

Might be time for an exam:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Then maybe:
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[thegreenestacre]

I agree that retraining might be necessary. I have several Amerucanas and two in particular go through the same thing: they stop laying periodically. I suspect they take breaks sometimes and then start laying in hidden spots. I've had good success keeping them in the coop/run for several days, along with using fake eggs in the nesting boxes, to get them back on track.

 

[Monarchfarm]

I’m no expert but...Is your Americauna really an Easter Egger? Mine stopped laying about this time last year for a few weeks, and then resumed. She seems to molt her neck feathers in the Spring/Summer so I assume it has to do with the molting though I could be wrong.

While I can’t be certain because I got her from the feed store, I’m pretty sure she is an Amerucana. If she isn’t pure she at least has many of the traits including laying pastel blue eggs. I’ve included a photo to show what she looks like. The brownish/orangeish color you see on her is not a part of her natural coloring and comes from the dirt around my house that is heavy in iron and they love to take dust baths in.
On the molting thing, so far she hasn’t shown any signs of molting as far as I know. I just took the picture I attached so you can look and see for yourself if she is molting or not.

I agree that retraining might be necessary. I have several Amerucanas and two in particular go through the same thing: they stop laying periodically. I suspect they take breaks sometimes and then start laying in hidden spots. I've had good success keeping them in the coop/run for several days, along with using fake eggs in the nesting boxes, to get them back on track.

The others have continued to lay in the box so I have been leaving the eggs until the end of the day to see if Linda will catch on. So far, she has not, even though she does sleep perched on the edge of the nesting boxes, so she does no where they are. Unfortunately our current run/coop situation is too small for all of them to stay locked in for more than just when thay are sleeping, but we will be getting a new and bigger one very soon, so I can try that then.