Egg laying behavior

[LJoWilly]

I noticed that Athena has not layed an egg in over a month. She is just a little over 2 yrs old, perfect health with no other issues other than her not laying an egg. She is a Black Australorp, who was the "runt" of the flock, but is also "head hen" of the group of 6.
No feed changes, should I be concerned?
Thanks guys,
It also should be noted, that these are my girls, and I didn't get them for egg laying purposes.
Thanks
Leanna

 

[snow5164]

Hello ,
Yes I’d be concerned. She can’t really be in perfect health if she’s not laying as chickens are designed to do that .

I’m going to ask a lot of questions to try and figure this out with you ...

Have you checked under her feathers for hot or red skin? Any feather loss? Poop is normal ? Soft belly ?check her vent in the sunshine, see any bugs ? Brown moving dots?

Were her eggs normal ?hard shells and nice shape ?

If these questions are all negative , I’d give her a scrambled egg , electrolytes in the water and wait ...

 

[LJoWilly]

Hello ,
Yes I’d be concerned. She can’t really be in perfect health if she’s not laying as chickens are designed to do that .

I’m going to ask a lot of questions to try and figure this out with you ...

Have you checked under her feathers for hot or red skin? Any feather loss? Poop is normal ? Soft belly ?check her vent in the sunshine, see any bugs ? Brown moving dots?

Were her eggs normal ?hard shells and nice shape ?

If these questions are all negative , I’d give her a scrambled egg , electrolytes in the water and wait ...

Thanks for the response..
Yes, all negative to the above questions. She's got me really stumped..

 

[aart]

Eh, not all birds are stellar layers.
I'd guess she stopped production with the waning light and is getting ready to molt.
May already be molting, some go slow and it's almost undetectable unless you look hard for pin feathers.

 

[LJoWilly]

Thanks aart,
I'm hoping that she's just taking a break...and she has not started to molt yet, as when I was checking her over, that was the first thing I thought she may be doing. No pin feathers, no mites, lice. Her abdomen looks normal, poop is normal. She eats good, and forages good when turned out. Her comb is bright red, and she is the friendliest hen I have.
Could it be possible, at this young of age, that she has spent most of her eggs that she has produced...

 

[aart]

Did she lay well before she stopped?

There's many reasons a bird may stop laying.
If she was a 'runt' (why do you call her that?) she may have 'hidden' health issues.
Have you checked her vent and pelvic spacing?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Do you free range?
Maybe she's laying out in range area?

If she's lead hen in all hen flock, she may be 'playing rooster'.

 

[LJoWilly]

Omg....Athena laid an egg today..make me look like a fool!!