mitthenstate92
In the Brooder
Hi all,
I am newer to raising chickens and could use some advice/opinions.
I have an almost 1 year old Buff Orpington (Lucy) who has decided to stop laying eggs recently. It has been a solid 5 days with no eggs and this is quite unusual for her. She started laying in roughly September/October of last year and laid an egg almost everyday very consistently all winter long. She seems to be acting her normal sassy self and eating voraciously. I have three other chickens, all pullets that are ~13-14 weeks old and have not yet started laying. I think I have read far too much on google and have now freaked myself out with the not so great things that could be causing a chicken to not lay eggs.
Some more background info (sorry if it turns into a novel!):
-I am located in Michigan and live in a suburban area. Temp has been mid 50s to 60s for the past week during the day and low 40s to high 30s at night.
-My coop set up includes a 4x4 insulated coop with large nesting boxes and this is attached to a 5'x10' covered run. I have a second slightly smaller coop attached to a second large run area that sits directly next to the first described coop. The chickens do not free range due to where I live and only have access to their run areas during the day.
-I feed Purina Layena crumbles to the laying hen and Purina Medicated Starter Crumbles to the pullets. They all have free access to the crumbles, grit, and fresh water.
Last weekend, I moved my pullets from a more indoor/sheltered setting to outdoors. When I did this I decided to put the Buff Orpington into the smaller coop (that is not insulated as well) in order to keep her separated from the pullets for a while before integrating them. The pullets then went in the larger insulated coop that is set up right next to the other coop. My Buff didn't seemed terribly thrilled to have new neighbors for a couple hours but eventually went about her business and ignored them for the most part for the rest of the day.
Now, the very next morning after moving the Buff to the smaller coop, she laid a normal egg in the morning. Later that day she laid a soft or shell-less egg (not really sure the difference, but it was broken when i found it with no hard shell in sight). The next day no egg. Day after that she laid a slightly smaller than normal, but otherwise normal shelled egg. Since then, she has not laid any eggs.
Another thing to note is that the day after the last egg was laid, I noticed her spending more time in the nest box/coop. She would go up there and cluck about and seemed to be making multiple nests and sitting on them for 1-2 hours at a time with no production. So I thought, well maybe she is going broody. But she never acted aggressive, growled or fluffed her feathers when I moved her out of the nest. She also would come out of the coop several times a day for a while and ate, scratched about, sunbathed, etc. I did put some fake eggs in one day while she was sitting in the nest just to see what she would do with them. She immediately rolled them one by one underneath of her and sat on them for an hour then came out of the coop. The last 2 days she really hasn't been spending all that much time in the nest/coop, but still isn't laying eggs. She is also having very large bowel movements every once in a while, they look normal just big. I have also noticed she doesn't submissively squat anymore when i reach towards her, which she has always done since she started laying.
I have read about egg binding and internal laying so have tried to examine her to the best of my abilities. I do not feel any hard swelling in the abdomen and it doesn't really feel swollen or fluid filled. Her abdomen I would say feels soft when I poke it, but not like fluid sloshing around (if that makes any sense). Again, she seems to be acting completely fine. Eating and drinking well, normal poop, clear eyes and nose, bright red comb/wattles, healthy appearing feathers. Didn't see any evidence of external parasites.
Again, sorry for the enormous post! I figured more details may be more helpful. I guess I just don't know if I should be concerned here or let it ride and see what happens. I have no experience to compare this situation to so any insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks again!
I am newer to raising chickens and could use some advice/opinions.
I have an almost 1 year old Buff Orpington (Lucy) who has decided to stop laying eggs recently. It has been a solid 5 days with no eggs and this is quite unusual for her. She started laying in roughly September/October of last year and laid an egg almost everyday very consistently all winter long. She seems to be acting her normal sassy self and eating voraciously. I have three other chickens, all pullets that are ~13-14 weeks old and have not yet started laying. I think I have read far too much on google and have now freaked myself out with the not so great things that could be causing a chicken to not lay eggs.
Some more background info (sorry if it turns into a novel!):
-I am located in Michigan and live in a suburban area. Temp has been mid 50s to 60s for the past week during the day and low 40s to high 30s at night.
-My coop set up includes a 4x4 insulated coop with large nesting boxes and this is attached to a 5'x10' covered run. I have a second slightly smaller coop attached to a second large run area that sits directly next to the first described coop. The chickens do not free range due to where I live and only have access to their run areas during the day.
-I feed Purina Layena crumbles to the laying hen and Purina Medicated Starter Crumbles to the pullets. They all have free access to the crumbles, grit, and fresh water.
Last weekend, I moved my pullets from a more indoor/sheltered setting to outdoors. When I did this I decided to put the Buff Orpington into the smaller coop (that is not insulated as well) in order to keep her separated from the pullets for a while before integrating them. The pullets then went in the larger insulated coop that is set up right next to the other coop. My Buff didn't seemed terribly thrilled to have new neighbors for a couple hours but eventually went about her business and ignored them for the most part for the rest of the day.
Now, the very next morning after moving the Buff to the smaller coop, she laid a normal egg in the morning. Later that day she laid a soft or shell-less egg (not really sure the difference, but it was broken when i found it with no hard shell in sight). The next day no egg. Day after that she laid a slightly smaller than normal, but otherwise normal shelled egg. Since then, she has not laid any eggs.
Another thing to note is that the day after the last egg was laid, I noticed her spending more time in the nest box/coop. She would go up there and cluck about and seemed to be making multiple nests and sitting on them for 1-2 hours at a time with no production. So I thought, well maybe she is going broody. But she never acted aggressive, growled or fluffed her feathers when I moved her out of the nest. She also would come out of the coop several times a day for a while and ate, scratched about, sunbathed, etc. I did put some fake eggs in one day while she was sitting in the nest just to see what she would do with them. She immediately rolled them one by one underneath of her and sat on them for an hour then came out of the coop. The last 2 days she really hasn't been spending all that much time in the nest/coop, but still isn't laying eggs. She is also having very large bowel movements every once in a while, they look normal just big. I have also noticed she doesn't submissively squat anymore when i reach towards her, which she has always done since she started laying.
I have read about egg binding and internal laying so have tried to examine her to the best of my abilities. I do not feel any hard swelling in the abdomen and it doesn't really feel swollen or fluid filled. Her abdomen I would say feels soft when I poke it, but not like fluid sloshing around (if that makes any sense). Again, she seems to be acting completely fine. Eating and drinking well, normal poop, clear eyes and nose, bright red comb/wattles, healthy appearing feathers. Didn't see any evidence of external parasites.
Again, sorry for the enormous post! I figured more details may be more helpful. I guess I just don't know if I should be concerned here or let it ride and see what happens. I have no experience to compare this situation to so any insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks again!
