Chickens and traumatic events

[brooklynchic]

A skunk recently killed four of my seven hens and wounded one. The wounded hen, Ginny, is trying to get back to normal. Her foot was injured but she is getting around and doing well. The one thing she has not done since the attack, which was in late March of this year, is lay eggs.

Can a traumatic event stop hens from laying eggs? And if so, for how long? I do not care if she lays another egg, as she is such a loveable bird and I am keeping her till the day she keels over and dies from old age, however, I am interested to know if she will ever lay again.

And if she doesn't; how does a hen's body just stop laying eggs? Is that dangerous for the bird?

 

[sbhkma]

Well first off, she's wounded. Her body is expending energy to healing, not laying eggs. Same thing as when they moult. They only have a specific amount of energy to expend (and protein) so it goes where it's needed most. In her case, toward healing her body. It could be another couple of months yet. How old is she?
Secondly, she's had a traumatic event. Something that to US seems trivial, such as changing their food or adding someone new to the flock, heat wave etc. can make them stop laying. What happened to your girl was enough I'm sure to shut down her egg factory for a bit. Hopefully she'll get back in the swing of things soon. Try increasing her protein a bit, especially if she's had to grow back any feathers from the attack. And just be patient-before you know she'll be squawking that egg song again (I can hear one of mine now-gawd she "sings" so offkey!!!)

 

[earlybird10842]

Yes, it may take a while for her to recover from stress.