Hen not laid since hatching chicks.

[henmad]

Hi. I have a Buff Orpington. She hatched out a clutch of chicks and reared them for about eight weeks until we rehomed them.
The chicks have been gone five weeks now. She not laid a single egg since she first went broody 16 weeks ago. She seems
healthy and happy, shes just not laid since having chicks. We've another hen who was a week later rearing chicks and she has been
back laying for the last month. Is it normal for a hen to take so long before she starts laying again?

Thanks

 

[kitkatnoah]

I had the same problem with my Partridge Cochin Bantam, she hatched 3 chicks on Easter Sunday, raised them for 6 weeks and stopped laying all summer. As of yesterday she laid her first egg since the beginning of April. I think the drought and high temps here in south Texas played a big part of her not laying, she was constantly seeking shade or just stayed in the coop. The weather turned cooler here two days ago and what do you know, she laid her egg, in my gardening basket instead of the coop!

 

[pgpoultry]

It can take quite a while before they start up again.

My ever broody Dark Brahma hen stayed with her babies for 14 weeks, eventually left them. went a week, laid three eggs.....then went broody again. Good incubator, crap egg layer.

 

[Illia]

Yep, they all vary. Some of my girls will start laying just a week later, some about 2 months later.


A couple of my girls, like with pgpoultry, will go broody just 2 weeks after they started laying.

 

[henmad]

Thanks very much for the reply's, I could not find any info on the subject. She did seem like she was going to go broody again a couple of times since (staying on the nest for ages) but didn't.

Love this website! The forums are so helpful. This is the first time I posted anything. Thank you all so much for the help.

 

[henmad]

Help! it's been 17 weeks since she hatched her eggs and shes still not laying again. Her chicks have started laying!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

At least you have some eggs! Maybe she needs a break, they can loose alot of weight after all that, so check her weight and let her rest up, I know my hen only ate once a day while broody and fed her chicks the most,even the treats I brought she would give to them(except for the strawberries) so without the extra nutrition she might be getting back to her former weight..

 

[henmad]

I wish I had some eggs....I gave the laying pullets to a friend!

 

[blefky]

How old is she? Perhaps she's just done? Also, considering time of year, could she be about to go into a molt?

 

[henmad]

Shes about a year and 4 months, I think. She may have had a molt a few weeks ago, but it was not a complete molt if at all. Her feathers were everywhere but she wasn't patchy or anything.