GETTING WORRIED -PLEASE TAKE A LOOK

[jjakaus]

I have an 1 year old white leghorn. She layed almost daily all winter long, even when my Easter eggers stopped. Right now I have 4 pullets, all about a year old. We moved in February and they are currently living in my garage. They have tons of room in there and have almost daily access to the backyard, where they eat whatever they can find. They have been eating the same layer feed since they started laying, have access to Oyster shell, and plenty of fresh water. Nothing has changed since February and all food has been constant since they were 5 months old or so.

In the last few weeks, I am lucky if she 1-2 a week. How do I know if there is a problem? She seems to be eating just fine and her activity is normal. What should I be looking for? Several weeks ago I did find an egg laid outside the box with some blood streaks on it, but when I checked her, there was no blood on or near her vent. There is no secret nest - we dont have that big of a yard and I have checked the garage.

Thanks!!

 

[azygous]

It is probably nothing to worry about as long as she doesn't appear to be sick. She isn't lethargic, moping around with her tail down, is she?

Some hens, after laying a certain number of eggs, take a "sabbatical". I have a few hens like that. They will lay normally and then take a long period of time off, sometimes months, and one hen took a year's leave recently, then began laying again.

These extended time-outs are said to be beneficial, improving the quality of the eggs.