Hen laying

[Mommy91080]

I have a two-and-a-half-year-old Rhode Island Red Hen her sister just died but she hasn't laid eggs and almost a month I need help with this she seems happy she is eating right and loves to talk . I have 3 other chicken ( cubalaya). 2 boys and 1 girl. Her comb is bright red , shiny feathers but I can't seem to figure out whats wrong. Help...

 

[Isaac 0]

Just because a chicken inst laying. means something is wrong.The first breed of chicken only laided 10-15 eggs a year.She is getting older and her body cant produce eggs as often

 

[Mommy91080]

Just because a chicken inst laying. means something is wrong.The first breed of chicken only laided 10-15 eggs a year.She is getting older and her body cant produce eggs as often

Ty so much

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed. She may have entered henopause. Keep an eye on her, and note if her behavior starts to deteriorate. I would rather cull a hen in decline than watch her suffer a painful death. Chickens are like cats. They hide their pain well. Her lack of laying in spite of good condition may indicate that she has a reproductive disorder.

 

[Mommy91080]

Agreed. She may have entered henopause. Keep an eye on her, and note if her behavior starts to deteriorate. I would rather cull a hen in decline than watch her suffer a painful death. Chickens are like cats. They hide their pain well. Her lack of laying in spite of good condition may indicate that she has a reproductive disorder.

Do you know what to look for of that is the case? My other hen was real sick for a while and she got REALLY skinny before she passed. She wasn't laying eggs either.

 

[rebrascora]

Things that make them skinny are digestive tract problems, usually an impacted crop where food and sometimes fluids too, cannot make their way through the digestive system to be processed and feed the bird, so it essentially starves even though they have access to plenty of food. Another cause, if the bird is clearly eating and processing food, can be a tumour.

A common reproductive problem with older hens, particularly high production breeds is internal laying. This may be something that you need to look out for with this girl, especially if her comb is red and she looks in good condition. Healthy looking red comb usually indicates that they are ovulating. Internal laying is where eggs(yolks) released from the ovary, fail to travel into the oviduct to be encased in albumen and shell, but instead drop into the abdominal cavity where they cannot get out. It is usually a recurring problem and a large mass of yolks build up over time causing swelling of the abdomen between the legs particularly and sometimes causes the hen to walk upright and with a wide stance as the weight of it pushes her legs/hips apart. It happens over a number of weeks and months, so checking her regularly is important and perhaps monitoring her weight if you think she looks like she should be laying. Birds that have this problem usually become considerably heavier than they should be and often have problems with runny poop soiling their feathers as the swelling gets larger and partially obstructs the gut making pooping difficult.

Hopefully your girl has just been knocked off lay by the loss of her friend. Chickens don't like change and any loss from the flock can upset the pecking order as well possibly missing her companion and it is not unusual for it to take several weeks to come back into lay. That said, we are rapidly approaching the season of moulting (I currently have two in mid moult) so it may be that she doesn't come back into lay until late in the year or even next year. As hens get older, their laying cycle usually gets shorter and their winter down time longer. I would be very surprised if she is finished laying at just yet at 2 1/2years old, unless she has a reproductive problem.

Good luck with her. I hope she surprises you with an egg soon and puts your fears to rest.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Mommy91080]

Ty so much for your info. I guess the next question is how do I check for the egg problem because she tries everyday to lay but nothing happens? What would be my next step?

 

[rebrascora]

Start weighing her regularly. If she is laying internally she will steadily increase in weight. I'm not sure what weight a yolk is but must be a good ounce, so if she is increasing in weight by 3-4 oz a week or more, you probably have an internal layer. Your next step depends on your goals and finances. If she is just for egg production, then you cull her, if she is a pet and you have the finances to spend on her, a vet can give her an hormonal implant(superlorin) to prevent her from ovulating, but it will need to be replaced every 3-6 months and is not cheap. Third option is to try to induce a moult. As I said, moulting season is nearly upon us and she should stop ovulating(releasing eggs) once she starts moulting, which is triggered n part by the shortening of the days, so if you keep your girl in the dark for the majority of a few days, maybe even a week, just letting her out for a few hours a day and limiting her feed, you may be able to start her moulting or possibly trigger broodiness, especially if you give her some fake eggs in her dark prison, both of which would stop her ovaries shedding eggs. I had a girl last summer that was very swollen with it and walking like a penguin, but during the autumn and winter she improved dramatically, only to get worse in the spring when her comb got bright red again and she must have started ovulating again. Unfortunately I didn't manage to save her because it had gone too far by the time I did my research and understood enough about what was happening. Hopefully if this is your girl's problem, you will be able to take action and prevent it getting too bad. Unfortunately she is unlikely to ever lay again normally if this is the problem and you are going to have to keep her in the dark for longer periods through the late winter, spring and summer, to try to prevent her from starting up again, but she should be fine to be out normally with the other girls once she starts to moult for at least a couple of months.