Laid for a week then quit

[SoPlanty]

6 mo Easter egger laid for a few weeks but never consistently in the nesting boxes with the rest of the girls. Then I stopped being able to locate anything. She’s the only olive egger so super easy to tell her eggs. I’ve looked EVERYWHERE for about 4 weeks now. She is acting healthy and normal. None of the others are being weird either. Help?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Are they free ranged, or pened? If free ranged, they might have a secret nest.

 

[chickenhugger69712]

Are you experiencing colder weather at your house? Our hens usually start to slow down a little once the cooler temperatures start to set in.

 

[Aunt Angus]

My first thought is the weather and the lack of daylight. It's pretty normal for them to slow or even stop laying come colder weather and shorter days.

I have a Cochin who lays VERY irregularly - like one every couple of months. I thought for sure she had some serious problems and was not long for this world, but she's almost 3.5 years old and still going strong.

 

[SoPlanty]

Are they free ranged, or pened? If free ranged, they might have a secret nest.

They have a large run, but I’ve searched high and low. No egg shells or evidence of rats… but this was my first thought since she never liked the nesting box to begin with…

 

[SoPlanty]

My first thought is the weather and the lack of daylight. It's pretty normal for them to slow or even stop laying come colder weather and shorter days.

I have a Cochin who lays VERY irregularly - like one every couple of months. I thought for sure she had some serious problems and was not long for this world, but she's almost 3.5 years old and still going strong.

We are in Southern California so still having nice warm weather. Since she’s only 6 months I thought too young for molting?? I’m starting to wonder if she’s just an irregular gal

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I have one like this. She laid her first egg in early September at about 5 and a half months of age, then laid a second, very small "fairy" egg about 3 weeks later, and has not laid one since. Seems healthy, not eggbound. The egg she did lay was a gorgeous teal color. I figure must be some sort of ovarian failure. She seems like a happy chicken otherwise.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have one like this. She laid her first egg in early September at about 5 and a half months of age, then laid a second, very small "fairy" egg about 3 weeks later, and has not laid one since. Seems healthy, not eggbound. The egg she did lay was a gorgeous teal color. I figure must be some sort of ovarian failure. She seems like a happy chicken otherwise.

So my hen Iris isn't all *that* weird. There are others with similar glitches in their egg laying systems. Good to know! I've always worried about her. She also molts 2x a year. That's a lot of feathers littering the yard...

 

[SoPlanty]

Update: I added a super delux home-made nesting box and a few days later, voila! After months of thinking she was having a chicken-identity-crisis she is back to laying. So it was 2 weeks of laying at around 5 mo, then 3 months of nothing, now about every day. SMH she’s just a primadonna