Has my hen stopped laying for good??!!

[CelestialChicks]

Hi!

I have a blue andalusian hen that I have had for about 3 months. I bought her at a market with the rest of my flock (I am a first time owner!! ) and her previous owners said she was one year old and lay eggs very often. The first week she laid and egg from everyday to every second day. We totally got 9 eggs from her and now more than two months has passed and she hasn't laid a single egg!

At first we thought it was just due to stress from moving. She has access to clean water, free ranges in a big garden full of grass and bushes. The coop is designed to fit 25 hens and we only have 5 so she has plant of space and good high quality food, oyster shells and so on.

Her comb and waddles has also paled and turned into a dull pink color.
Does all of these signs mean she has stopped with the egg production... forever?

Thanks!

 

[Nupe]

I'm pretty new at this myself but it sounds more like she's sick. The average I've heard is hens will lay consistently for around 3 years. How far away did your chickens come from? Did they free range there? Maybe your yard has a bug they hadn't been exposed to before. And then there's parasites. It could be any number of things.

It sounds like she's been dealing with something over the last 2 months and is slowly losing the fight.

You might want to give her a good look over or if you can afford, take her to a vet. If anything, take some pics and give a good description in the Emergency forum. Someone more experienced than me can give you better advice.

 

[jtn42248]

Hi!

I have a blue andalusian hen that I have had for about 3 months. I bought her at a market with the rest of my flock (I am a first time owner!! ) and her previous owners said she was one year old and lay eggs very often. The first week she laid and egg from everyday to every second day. We totally got 9 eggs from her and now more than two months has passed and she hasn't laid a single egg!

At first we thought it was just due to stress from moving. She has access to clean water, free ranges in a big garden full of grass and bushes. The coop is designed to fit 25 hens and we only have 5 so she has plant of space and good high quality food, oyster shells and so on.

Her comb and waddles has also paled and turned into a dull pink color.
Does all of these signs mean she has stopped with the egg production... forever?

Thanks!

How about the other chickens? Are they laying or are they showing the same behavior? She could be older than represented to you when you bought her. Chicken lay pretty regularly for the first couple of years then slack off but continue to lay for several years after that. To not lay for two months seems a bit out of the ordinary. Has she begun to molt? If all the chickens are manifesting the same behavior then you either have nothing to worry about or there is something in their "new" environment that has effected them. I have 5 Blue Andalusian hens and an Andalusian rooster. The hens combs never did get as red as my other hens and in fact stayed a pinkish grey for a while yet they continue to lay a single white egg each day each so I don't think the comb color is a good indicator in that breed. You might want to consult with an avian vet if you can find one. Don't be surprised if you find vets that "take birds" but not domestic fowl. A lot will only see exotics and not chickens, ducks or geese.

Best of luck

 

[aart]

She could be going into molt if her comb is pale and she's not laying and there's some extra feathers laying around.
The days are shortening also, triggering molt and laying cessation, that could be a factor.
As long as she's active, eating, drinking and pooping OK..... she's probably not sick.

 

[CelestialChicks]

Thanks for your replies everyone. She isn't showing any sick behavior, to the contrary she is very active, flying on my roof top, drinking, eating, playing and so on. The other four chickens in the flock are too young to lay. I have one Brahma that should be laying anytime soon, she is around 9 months and the other ones are 4-6 months old.

 

[Happy Chooks]

She could be going into molt if her comb is pale and she's not laying and there's some extra feathers laying around.
The days are shortening also, triggering molt and laying cessation, that could be a factor.
As long as she's active, eating, drinking and pooping OK..... she's probably not sick.

Agree. The move and the shortening days are probably putting her into a molt. Hens cannot lay while molting because they need all of their protein to grow in new feathers. Be patient, you'll get eggs from her. She will start laying again when she has replaced her feathers, and gets her body weight back up to a sustainable level.

 

[CelestialChicks]

Should there be any obvious signs when a hen is going through her annual molt?

And she didn't lay during the whole summer when the days were long and full of light. I'm not really so concerned that I'm not getting any eggs because let's be honest the reason I have these hens is only because I enjoy their company but if her egg production suddenly dropped is an indication that something's wrong with her, then I'm seriously worried.

 

[aart]

Should there be any obvious signs when a hen is going through her annual molt?

And she didn't lay during the whole summer when the days were long and full of light. I'm not really so concerned that I'm not getting any eggs because let's be honest the reason I have these hens is only because I enjoy their company but if her egg production suddenly dropped is an indication that something's wrong with her, then I'm seriously worried.

Pale comb and wattles.......lots of feathers around.

No telling why she stopped laying or when she might start back up again.

If she was ill, she would probably appear ill, tho they can hide it pretty well it's sounds by her activity level that she is fine...so just enjoy her!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Yep. The move would also cause her to stop laying. Chickens don't do well with change and any change can cause a disruption in laying.

 

[CelestialChicks]

Here is a picture of her!