Is anything wrong with my chicken

[modelo]

Is she sick? She has been acting a little different and no eggs for over a month...I've noticed her ears are really white. Our other chickens are not. Could maybe be her breed?... She's an andulasian It's winter now and snow and cold where we live..

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The ear color on a hen is the predictor of what color egg shell she will encase her eggs in. The hen in the photo will lay a white shell egg.
From her face and comb I would expect her to lay shortly if she is getting the right amount of light every day.

 

[azygous]

That ear lobe color isn't an absolute predictor of egg color, but it is remarkably close. I have five Welsummer pullets who are approaching six months of age. They have very dark brown ear lobes, and almost all are sporting very red combs. I expect to see my first dark red/brown egg very soon. Usually, as we get on the other side of the winter solstice, hens will begin laying eggs again, and new layers will be stimulated to start.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is no genetic link to ear lobe color and egg shell color. Due to selective breeding most purebred chickens do follow the rule of white earlobe – white eggs, red earlobe – brown eggs, but once you start crossing breeds that goes out the window. If you look at Phoenix and Penedesenca (plus some others) on Henderson’s breed chart you can see that isn’t always true even in purebreds.

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html#a

Your Andalusian has white earlobes and should lay a creamy white egg, not pure white like a leghorn. Both earlobes and egg color are due to selective breeding, not because there is a genetic link between the two.

Modela, how old is she? If she has quit laying it is likely due to the molt this time of year. Also some hens just quit or really cut back laying in really cold really hot weather. That does not mean anything is wrong with them.

How is she acting different? What are the symptoms?

It’s never a bad idea to check her for mites or lice. Parasites can be a problem, but in cold weather they are usually not as big a problem as in warm or hot weather.

 

[modelo]

There is no genetic link to ear lobe color and egg shell color. Due to selective breeding most purebred chickens do follow the rule of white earlobe – white eggs, red earlobe – brown eggs, but once you start crossing breeds that goes out the window. If you look at Phoenix and Penedesenca (plus some others) on Henderson’s breed chart you can see that isn’t always true even in purebreds.

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html#a

Your Andalusian has white earlobes and should lay a creamy white egg, not pure white like a leghorn. Both earlobes and egg color are due to selective breeding, not because there is a genetic link between the two.

Modela, how old is she? If she has quit laying it is likely due to the molt this time of year. Also some hens just quit or really cut back laying in really cold really hot weather. That does not mean anything is wrong with them.

How is she acting different? What are the symptoms?

It’s never a bad idea to check her for mites or lice. Parasites can be a problem, but in cold weather they are usually not as big a problem as in warm or hot weather.

She was laying a white egg every day and as of 5-6 weeks ago has stopped completely. I have noticed her feathers scattered throughout coop so maybe she is molting.... She seems different as in not as friendly and she pecks a lot. Almost like she doesn't want to be touched where before she was really friendly.....

 

[azygous]

They do get irritable and not as friendly when molting. Molts last from one to three months, so you'll need to be patient. You can feed her a high protein feed to get her through molt a bit quicker.

 

[aldarita]

Adding to the previous post, when chickens are molting, the new pin feathers come out and it is painful for them when they are being handled. So if she is grumpy it is because of the molt.

 

[modelo]

Adding to the previous post, when chickens are molting, the new pin feathers come out and it is painful for them when they are  being handled. So if she is grumpy it is because of the molt.

That would make sense! Thank u

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That ear lobe color isn't an absolute predictor of egg color, but it is remarkably close.

Hens with white earlobes lay white shelled eggs. Period!!!

Hens who have red earlobes lay eggs with some other color, usually brown but hens with red earlobes also lay other color eggs like black, light tan, bone, blue, green, etc.

The accompanying link to the University of Illinois Poultry Science Department says the same thing.
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res32-qa.html

As a hen continues to lay, she ages and her body exhausts its supply of eggshell pigment, a hen who laid a dark brown eggs as a one year old may lay a very light tan egg by her forth year of production ie. a 5 year old hen. But she will never lay a white egg, never.

 

[enola]

I have over a dozen hens that have an Araucana for a father and a White Leghorn for their mother. They all have white ear lobes- they all lay blue eggs.

The idea that are lobe tells the egg color is simply not true.