hen has not layed an egg in a looooog time, please help!

[roxyblue]

Hello everyone!
I know my chickens are in molt and the winter months are right around the corner, however this is weird.
earlier in the summer one of my hens that had been laying about every other day became eggbound, with a shell less egg that broke inside of her.
I gave her a warm bath and with a lot of care managed to get the white and the membrane out of her. (it wasn't pleasent)
later I had her wrapped in a towel on my lap and she laid a yolk incased it it's own membrane

.
she hasn't layed a egg since..... is this alright? Its fine if she retires and continues to live her happy life with her freinds, i'm just concerned for her health,
Thank you all soooo much!
-roxyblue



oops forgot to mention that she will be turning two in march.....

 

[roxyblue]

Please?

 

[roxyblue]

could she be an internal layer?

 

[NovaAman]

I got a hen that was egg bound... didn't break... she has quit laying thou also, about 2-3 weeks after being bound... so... I am thinking its just winter months... How old is your hen?

 

[roxyblue]

thank you!
I'm sorry to here about your hen

Mine is going to be 2 in march.
-roxyblue

 

[mcjessen]

Two of my 7 month old girls have quit laying all together (it's been a month) with no signs of being egg bound, internal laying or molt. I'm stumped. I don't have an answer for you other than that I share your concern.

 

[teach1rusl]

Roxy - in your case I would suspect egg tract disease or shut down, probably at least in part due to age, especially if she hasn't appeared sick in any way (because then I would worry about internal laying). eta - well...I was thinking that your birds were already 2...I just saw that they won't be two until next March????mcj - Younger chickens, especially breeds that aren't known to be prolific layers, may have stopped laying due to such short days - we're down to less than 11 hours of daylight here. In that case, you can try providing a light on a timer, to come on around 4 am and go off around 7 or 8 am (depending on when daylight arrives).

 

[roxyblue]

Thankyou!
She has me stumped too, she is a very fun chicken to have around, has an attitude, and seems to be in perfect health. What are those two "conditions"you mentioned? I prefer to give the winter off to my hens because they've worked so hard all summer (exept for this little girl)
She's a bard plymouth rock if that helps.
thanks again everyone!
-Roxyblue

 

[mcjessen]

Quote:
My girls are Buff Orpingtons and are 7 months old. We had trauma about a month ago - a neighbors dog got in the yard and chased the girls. No one was hurt. After that, one BO came down with "mystery" illness I now think was a mild case of eColi. She's better but not laying. The other BO is now very sick and in isolation (and not laying).

I will be treating everybody with antibiotics starting this evening. So, the no laying will be irrelevant because we'll need to destroy our BA's daily egg for three weeks after treatment ends. We're also down to a lot less light a day however, I have them on a timer and give 14.5 hrs of light a day. No indication of molt either. I can see an egg every once in a while but from 3 a day to 1 a day literally overnight, is crazy.

My little BA is healthy and chugging along in production. I shrug my shoulders and hope that a round of antibiotics and some more time will help. If not, they will have to go and I'll start fresh with new birds in the spring. *sigh*

 

[roxyblue]

Hello mcjessen!
I'm sorry to here about your girls

what type of antibiotics are you useing? where are you getting them from?
Thanks!
-roxyblue