Hen has stopped laying, confused?

[Phantom_k9]

Hello!
One of our hens has just up and stopped laying. It has been about a week since she has last laid, and we are getting worried. We have lost a hen to impaction, but I don't believe this one has the same. She is pooping fine, and has past the two day threshold. She is only a year old, so I don't think she has just ran out. Both of our hens have gotten a lot more broody recently, returning to the nester just to sit for a long time, currently this is my running theory as to why she hasn't laid but I'm not sure.
We just got hit with some cold weather as well, so not winter slowing her down.
She still goes to the nester daily, and sits there for a long long time, even though there isn't anything there!

 

[lbgreenfield]

Hi. I just had a younger hen (about 6 months old) go broody and she stopped laying for about 1.5 weeks. My older hens also stop laying occasionally too for a week or so at a time.

Have you checked her to see if she is egg bound? I know you mentioned she had pooped, so that is a good sign. You can check to feel for an egg by very, very gently inserting a gloved, lubricated (with KY or something similar) finger into her vent. Go about 1-inch in, just to your second knuckle. If you feel nothing, no egg. If you feel something, most likely an egg. If you feel an egg, you can proceed with trying to stimulate her system to lay: Soak her vent and lower body in a warm, epsom salt soak for about 20 minutes. Feed her some crushed Tums or calcium (I hide my Tums pieces in blueberries). Place her in a dark, quiet nesting box and observe her. You can also very, very gently massage her belly/vent area, moving your fingers from mid-belly back to her vent.

I would say as long as she is eating, drinking, and pooping, she will be fine. Hens go in and out of lay for a variety of reason, so as long as she is not in distress (panting, squatting, straining, etc.), she should pull through!

 

[bobbi-j]

As the days get shorter, the less they’ll lay. Could be she’s molting, or getting ready to. This will also impact laying.

 

[Mrs. K]

If a bird is active, eating, pooping, I assume all is well. At a year old, this time of year, it is bound to be a molt. Molting, they stop laying, loose old feathers, grow new feathers, and for me, around February start laying again.

 

[aart]

She is only a year old

Like 12 months old.....or 14-18 months old?
It the latter, then they provably stopped laying for molt and winter break.

Both of our hens have gotten a lot more broody recently, returning to the nester just to sit for a long time

Might just be lounging.

Here's my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

 

[lbgreenfield]

When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?

Fluffy Screeching Pancake! Hahaha.
That is my tell-tale sign of a broody hen too!

 

[Phantom_k9]

Like 12 months old.....or 14-18 months old?
It the latter, then they provably stopped laying for molt and winter break.

Might just be lounging.

Here's my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Probably 13-15 months, i'm not sure.
I'm not sure if she is in the nesters all day, but I know she isn't all night, she still goes off to roost (and I see her several times during the day, so I'm fairly confident that she isn't there all day). I haven't tried to remove a bird from a nester, so I wouldn't know if she would plop down like a fluffy screeching pancake (loved that btw). The only time I've heard the ticking time bomb is when our other hen has laid an egg.
I haven't tried to check for an egg, but I'm pretty sure she isn't egg bound. No waddling, she doesn't freeze up, and she is eating drinking and pooping. Unfortunately, I have seen an egg bound hen before, however I can at least rule that out for this hen (i'm like 99% sure). The only other explanation I have is that she has either gone broody or is "playing house".
Concerning the molt, our oldest roo just went through a hard one, he literally looked like he had a shaved tail. I have been seeing a lot of feathers in the coop, but I'm not sure if they are from this hen? In fact, she had a spot on her back where she didn't have any feathers and she just recently got them all back. I don't know if thats "molting", just providing context.

 

[aart]

Yep, not broody, just molting.