easter chicken HaS STOPPED LAYING

[sdugey]

Is there anythink to be done? she has not layed an egg for over 3 weeks, She seems fine, hangs with the rest of the flock. occasionally she sits on nest, but no eggs. I have removed from her vent:, once, something that was the beginning of an egg, it was just the outer layer and very soft. help, any info is welcome

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Make sure she is on a good diet. Lots of oystershell on the side for not only hard egg shells but contractions to push the egg out. She could be molting. Are you seeing lots of feathers around? Molters generally stop laying until they replace all their feathers. Is she laying them out in the field somewhere, maybe she is eating her eggs? As they age, they will slow down in laying. A health issues can stop the eggs as well. Is she stressed in any way, being picked on? You might start with an over all exam to see if you can see anything that might be clamping off the eggs. Stop by this thread on why my chickens are not laying and maybe you can glean some info as to what is going on with this bird...https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers

Good luck and I hope you can get to the bottom of this soon!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

X2 on Two Crows. Many things can influence laying. Light hours, stress levels, nutrition, dirtiness, molting, bullying, etc. Chickens need about 16 hours of light a day to lay eggs. Stress, dirtiness and molting all causes them to stop laying. Make sure to give them lots of protein during the molt. Mealworms, peas, quinoa, meat scraps, etc. Chickens also need proper nutrition in their diet. Layer feed and calcium along with greens and water is what laying hens need. Make sure to watch for bullying behaviors too. Isolate the bully for a bit.

She could also be hiding her eggs.

Good luck!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good suggestions from TwoCrows and Mountain Peeps, hope your hen is OK.

 

[sdugey]

Thanks,..All the information. Very very helpful. She is not hiding eggs. I know that for sure, bit could be molting. She sits on nest every day trying to lay. I am going to increase protein and oyster shell. She is already on layena

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

You've received some good advice already!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Did she just start laying before she took time off? New layers take awhile to get their laying machine tuned up. In the interim they can be sporadic with laying, or laying some shell less eggs, or other oddities. As long as she doesn't appear distressed (won't eat, lays around, depressed) which could indicate she is egg bound. she is just uncertain about what to do with her egg laying motivation.