Hen stopped laying and pooping

[pasesak]

I have four hens, all 1.5 year old RIR's. I used to have 2 roosters as well but I had to give them away due to their ravaging the hens non-stop! I have posted before about one of my hens that wasn't laying well...well, now she is not laying at all! She eats well, in fact she eats like a pig, and she seems energetic enough, but she has been limping, especially noticeable when she is running, and has been sleeping in nests, or during the day she will crouch on the ground like she is in a nest and won't move. Her legs have turned from white back to yellow.

She used to lay big beautiful eggs, then she was laying thin shelled eggs all over the yard that were broken, now nothing.

She looks healthy, but I just noticed today that I don't think she is pooping either! Her bottom looks clean and her skin on her bottom looks yellow, AND there have been no droppings where she has been sleeping. She has not been laying eggs now for a couple of months. I felt around her bottom to feel if it felt unusual or hard, and it doesn't feel particularly different that I can notice but every time I try to feel it she freaks out like it hurts or something, though she is kind of an uptight hen that bites a lot and gets mad over everything.

Another of my hens also has not been laying much either (once a week). My other 2 hens though have been laying just about every day. I have no idea what is going on, and I am concerned about my poor chickens. I don't want to off them! What could be going on? WHAT SHOULD I DO?

 

[Judy]

It's really just guesswork. The one that has stopped could be eggbound; thin shelled eggs are harder to pass than hard ones, and can get stuck and back up. The heat could be slowing down some more than others, if it is hot where you live. A molt is always a possibility, or partial molt; they are at the right age for molting (which in itself slows or stops laying) then slowing down in their laying when they start up again. Stress can cause a slowdown or halt to laying, from any number of things, from heat to worms to a predator hanging around, etc. A more serious problem with your one hen's egg laying system is always a possibility, too.

Have you seen this thread? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=423023