Help new hen not laying

[mommaofchickens]

I got a new hen a week ago I traded with a woman for my polish hen. The new hen is a RIR she is supposed to be 11 months old and supposed to be laying every day. Is there any reason why she wouldn't be laying yet? I figured she might still be under stress the first few days but I'm kind of worried there might be something wrong with her.

 

[QueenMisha]

It could just be stress, it's not uncommon for hens to cease laying when moved to a new environment. Check her over, make sure her abdomen feels normal and she is not underweight, to rule out some common health issues. It's also possible that she is not 11 months old - people do lie sometimes. I have a distinct memory from my childhood of being offered free laying hens by some acquaintances of our family. We were told they were young, hardy, and laid well. We decided to take them. The birds we got were not the birds advertised. These were stewing fowl, probably 6 or 7 years old, all gnarled feet and scarred combs. They laid 1-2 eggs per week.

If it is stress, she should lay within the next week or so. If she has a health issue, she may not lay at all, or lay abnormal eggs. If it is old age, she should lay a couple times a week.

 

[mommaofchickens]

that's my fear, that she might be older then they said she was. I really hope not she is really sweet. but she is bullied by one of chickens that's laying so I took my already laying chicken out of the community coop into out temporary one the day after I got her but she still doesn't want to come out of the coop very mhch. I don't know of she's still scared. And I just don't know what to do to make her more comfortable

 

[mommaofchickens]

her lower abdomin feels fullmy other chickens don't feel that way.

 

[QueenMisha]

her lower abdomin feels fullmy other chickens don't feel that way.

Then this sounds like a health issue. My first thought is egg binding, but after a week, she would be dead already. I suppose internal laying is another possibility - I know a hen who I believe is laying internally, and she has a very full belly, and hasn't laid in weeks. According to the literature, hens can survive 6 months to 1 year or even longer while laying internally, since the eggs are incomplete and tend to take a while to "pile up" or become infected.

It could also be some kind of ovarian/reproductive system tumor (somewhat common in older hens), or even ascites (although ascites typically presents with other symptoms such as breathing difficulty).

Unfortunately what all these have in common is that they aren't really treatable. They may or may not be fatal, and those which are may still take months or even years to kill the bird.

Keep an eye on her for the next week or two, to make sure she hasn't began to lay or become sickly.

 

[mommaofchickens]

thanks for the information I will keep an eye on her and hope that she starts to lay.