Hen hasn't laid in four or five days- But she seems healthy?

[LindseyLu]

I'm a new chicken owner, so I don't really know what to expect.

One of my chickens started laying daily about a month and a half ago, and she recently stopped laying (four, maybe five days ago). She seems healthy and normal though, walks and eats normally and runs around squawking at bugs as per usual. I haven't seen her poop, though, and I've noticed she has some runny goo-poo near her vent- but it seems like the same little bit that she just hasn't rubbed off, not something like she's leaking every day.

I scoured the henhouse and coop looking for stray eggs, but she hasn't begun laying anywhere different. I'm researching it right now, but hopefully I can get some info on this from you guys! Is it something I should just wait for her to get over, or something serious I need to treat her for?

Thank you!

 

[BantamoftheOpera]

Depending on where you are located the weather could be your answer. You should be fine as long as she looks healthy. I have one who finished with her molt, layed for a month and then nothing for two months. Just wait for Spring. Also, some breeds just don't lay as much, what kind is she?

 

[JakRat]

I had a hen that layed 4 eggs and then just stopped. I have one that hasnt started yet and she is 8 months old, and then I have one that also stopped when I brought her home from her new owner.

If her abdomen isnt swollen or hard and her vent seems fine, I would just keep an eye out on her. She may just be like "well I just dont feel like it this week". Stress, weather or them just wanting to be annoying can cause them to have funky laying issues. I also had 5 girls who after one winter just stopped laying and now lay every once and a while for their new owners. Its weird.

 

[LindseyLu]

Well, I live in Sacramento, CA, and the weather here has been unusually mild all winter- this week has been even warmer (70's during the day and maybe 40 at night, up maybe five degrees on average from last week). They also have a light in their coop that keeps the "daytime" going until about 10PM.

They were out of water for most of the day a few days ago, right around when we stopped seeing her eggs, and then we switched over from grower crumble to layer pellets. We made a beginner mistake and didn't mix the old food and new food 50/50 to transition them slower! Fixed it now, though.

From what I've been looking at, I think we may have just stressed her out too much. I'll definitely give her abdomen a feel, though, just to make sure.

I don't know her breed for sure (she came from a mixed batch of eggs from two flocks, with a few varieties of chickens) but she looks an awful lot like an Australorp (as a baby and adult, and she lays light brown eggs), and there were Australorps in the flocks she came from.

Her companion (a Rhode Island Red mix, who's top hen) is laying reliably. There's just the two of them right now, though, so I can't see any general laying trends to know if it is just stress.

 

[LindseyLu]

Good news! She laid an egg this morning. Guess she was just taking a vacation!