Help, my young hen suddenly stopped laying eggs! Am I doing something wrong??

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I have a 3 yo Buff Orpington hen who, every day, will sit on the nesting box for about an hour or so, but she never lays any eggs! This has been going on for about 3 weeks, maybe 3 1/2.

Here is her story: a little over a month ago, one of my hens, who escaped the run, got killed by my dog. After that, my Buff Orpington started eating her eggs for like two weeks. Now, she has stopped laying altogether. I didn't think the death of one of the flock members can affect a hen for this long...? She is acting totally normal, eating, drinking, running around. I don't think she is broody, since she only sits in the nesting box for a couple hours at most; never the whole day. Just incase it is a protein problem, I have started giving my hens scrambled eggs with a whole host of herbs and paprika (because I like dark yolks). Out of 3 hens, I am only getting eggs from ONE of them, which is very upsetting (one of them is simply too old and lays soft shelled eggs). The one hen who DOES lay eggs, lays beautifully shelled, dark yoked eggs. I haven't really switched their feed very recently, but yesterday I started the slow switch to All Flock Pellets. They have been eating Purina Starter Crumbles with free choice Oyster Shells because I have pullets. Killing her isn't really an option because she is very much considered a pet. Getting eggs is ideal though!

In short, my questions are:

• Why isn't she laying any eggs?
• Why does she sit on the nesting box?
• How can I encourage her to lay eggs?
• Is this a permanent problem?
• Will it solve itself over time?
• A bit ago, I got layer pellets because they were on sale; I planned on using these when my pullets are of age, but can this hen eat layer pellets since she hasn't eaten for a while. My pullets are 2mo old right now, so it'll be a bit 'till they start laying.

Any knowledge and tips on the matter are greatly appreciated!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My buff Orpington always would lay for a while and than take a break for a while throughout the laying season, so I would assume she's on a break. They also slow or stop production when it starts to warm up.

They are a dual purpose breed, so they don't tend to be a higher producing breed. What you are feeding is fine. Some seem to like to just sit in the boxes, especially if it's part of their daily routine. Chickens are creatures of habit.

 

[FrostRanger]

As long as she isn't egg bound (I seriously doubt she is as she would be obviously sick and would have passed by now if that were the case) and otherwise seems fine, I wouldn't worry too much. She might eventually start again or she might not. If you're fine with keeping her even if she doesn't lay I can see no reason to cull her. As far as I can tell you aren't doing anything wrong, either she's taking a break, stopped due to age or has some reproductive issue that caused her to stop (they usually aren't treatable ). In any case there's not much you can do but watch and wait