Egg Laying

[sshoreland]

Okay forgive me if this question has gone around and around, and I have read many of the post but I am still not clear. I have 4 hens. My Americauna has laid every day since I got her in Late July 12. The last egg she laid was during the night from her roost ad she has not laid since (2 weeks ago). Food has not changed, weather has not changed, everyone else is still laying. They get laying crumbles, oyster shell, grit, I treat them with oats, watermelon, seeds,they pick tomatoes off the vine and eat those, they are free to run the yard and eat all the grass and bugs they want and she is the only one that has stopped. I have a certificate from the girl that I bought her from for whatever that is worth and was told she was right at a year old. She does not seem sick, she struts around and flaps her wings like all the others, I have examined her and she sounds and looks good. She is a beautiful girl. None of them are molting yet. Thanks for your patience.

 

[HEChicken]

Two possibilities come to mind. First is that she is in a slow molt. Unlike a hard molt, a slow molt is not that obvious, and it is the time of year when you might expect them to start. I've only had a couple of hens do a really hard molt where they look scraggly and bald and kind of pathetic for a few weeks. The rest mostly maintain their normal appearance as they replace the feathers at about the same rate they lose them.

The second possibility is that she has a hidden nest somewhere, especially since you mentioned that they are out foraging for part of the day.

 

[sshoreland]

Thank you HEChicken. This hens stay under the privets next to the pen where there is lots of cool dirt and shade. I go out and talk to my chickens 5 or 6 times a day, my rooster who is a frisky teenager has been on her a couple of times and i have seen her in a nest box, but she leaves nothing. She just sets for about 5 or so minutes and then she jumps down strolls back under the bushes or runs around the yard chasing bugs. I look under the bushes all the time just to keep a head count. I guess we'll go with the slow molt.