Hen stopped laying

NatureGirl74

Songster
Jul 23, 2020
372
254
161
I have a 2 year old RSL. She hasn't laid an egg in over a week. I felt her abdomen, and it doesn't feel like there's an egg inside. Nothing has really changed. I put our peafowl in the run several weeks ago because their pen was badly damaged by really strong wind. We just got that pen back up and put the peafowl back in it. My dog caught a racoon wandering around our yard on Saturday, but the hen had stopped laying before that. Nothing else has changed. Her comb is bright red and she doesn't act sick. She used to be my best layer, but all of a sudden stopped. Everyone else is laying fine. Any ideas on what's going on?
 
How do her feathers look? And is she definitely not laying, or you haven’t found her eggs? A while back, I started noticing that I was getting fewer eggs. I stopped finding eggs on the bottom level of nesting boxes. And I have a hen or two that preferred to lay on the ground. I’d find where they would nest but no eggs. Since that started a month ago, I found that I am getting the normal amount of eggs, but all on the top two levels of boxes. And two days ago, I found a 3 foot long king snake hanging around my coop. Which would explain all of the changes.
 
How do her feathers look? And is she definitely not laying, or you haven’t found her eggs? A while back, I started noticing that I was getting fewer eggs. I stopped finding eggs on the bottom level of nesting boxes. And I have a hen or two that preferred to lay on the ground. I’d find where they would nest but no eggs. Since that started a month ago, I found that I am getting the normal amount of eggs, but all on the top two levels of boxes. And two days ago, I found a 3 foot long king snake hanging around my coop. Which would explain all of the changes.
Her feathers look good. There's really not anywhere for eggs to hide in the coop or run. I never thought of snakes eating the eggs, but we only have garter snakes around here. Most of them are only a foot long or less. I could try to separate her, but I don't think I have any other pens available right now.
 

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