Do young hens ever just stop laying forever?

[MandyFitch]

My Ameracauna hen stopped laying when it got hot in June (we're in Arizona) and has never laid an egg since then. Could she just be done? Does that happen? She's only a year old.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's rare in a bird that age but can easily happen. Usually the reason is disease, nutrition or continued stress.
Diseases with no other symptoms could be Colibacillosis, Visceral Gout and Cage Fatigue. There are others but they would have more symptoms.
Ovarian tumors are a possibility.
Look at all the things that can interfere with laying and try a little detective work.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/450/several-reasons-why-your-hens-may-stop-laying-eggs

Stress from heat will cause a temporary lapse, if you continue to feed a bird that isn't actively laying eggs a layer feed, it's possible to induce visceral gout from excessive calcium.

 

[MandyFitch]

Thanks for your replies. I now wonder if her eggs have just changed color? Somebody gave me white eggs two days in a row now. I've never had white eggs. They were weird, one was very rough and that's not the first time I've gotten a very light rough egg. The other looked just like every white egg you've ever seen except that the shell was very thin.

Could this be my blue egg-laying Ameracauna??? The eggs used to be a really pretty light blue.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The genetics of egg color is complicated and anything's possible. You'll probably have to take a couple mornings, watch who's laying and collect after each leaves the nest.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16553287

By rough, do they resemble any on this chart?

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

 

[aldarita]

My Ameracauna hen stopped laying when it got hot in June (we're in Arizona) and has never laid an egg since then. Could she just be done? Does that happen? She's only a year old.

I have the exact problem with my Wheaten Ameraucana. She is a year and a half and stopped laying in June. She has not laid an egg since then. She looks very healthy and behaves like the rest of the flock. Now I am concerned about her eating layer feed and not laying. I don't think I could separate her from the rest of the flock and give her grower feed. She will be isolated and this can stress her a lot. I wouldn't like to change the whole flock's feed because of her. Right now they are on Nutrena Feather Fixer because of the molt some of them are going thru. Wow this gets complicated. I hope she starts laying again soon.

 

[MandyFitch]

Thanks for posting that chart. I can't say for sure if the eggs looked anything like those since the photos are small but a calcium issue would make sense given the roughness of the egg. But all the girls free range and get excellent organic feed as well as lots of fruit and veggies from our table. I can't imagine where they'd get and excess of calcium and why it would only happen to one of them...

 

[MandyFitch]

If the others are laying fine I wouldn't change anything. I also wouldn't separate them as even just a few days can make it really hard for them to reintegrate, in my limited experience. Anyway, my Ameracuana is totally feral. I'd hate to try and catch her! She looks so healthy! No fee problems, beautifully feathered, good color... Oh well, I'll have her until she dies of old age. Maybe she'll come around at some point.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for posting that chart. I can't say for sure if the eggs looked anything like those since the photos are small but a calcium issue would make sense given the roughness of the egg. But all the girls free range and get excellent organic feed as well as lots of fruit and veggies from our table. I can't imagine where they'd get and excess of calcium and why it would only happen to one of them...

You can plus size the chart on a pdf to see them full size.

 

[islandgirl82]

You can switch the whole flock over to starter/growing and just offer a separate dish with crushed egg shells/oyster shells. That way you're not having to worry about separating any of the birds from the flock and feeding anything different. Those who need the extra calcium will eat it and those who don't will leave it (or at least not eat enough to do any harm).