Hi all! I'm new to chickens here, and have a question about laying. I have a 2 year old Americauna/Cochin mix hen who was laying like a champ (almost 1 egg a day) for weeks. Then, recently she decided to hang out in the nest box all day and all night. I figured she was broody, and so separated her from the nest for a few days. That seemed to break the broody cycle, but now she's not laying. Is this normal? Or is it just that it's getting darker sooner (we're getting about 12-13 hours of daylight now), or is it getting too cool? It's been around 40 Farenheit at night, sometimes lower. She's not molting as far as I can tell, and seems to be perfectly happy and healthy - just not laying. Thanks for helping this clueless chicken owner. Angela
I don't know how much help we'll be -- its just guesses, really. She could still be going through some of the broody hormones and they have stopped her from laying. She could just have switched over to what many of us are experiencing, a decrease in eggs due to cooler weather and shorter days. Is it possible she's laid an odd egg or two and you didn't realize it? Then there's always the hidden nest, especially since she was just broody.
At that age and at this time of year I'd be more inclined to think she's molting and not broody unless you were seeing the huge broody poos along with the other odd behaviour. If she's molting she probably won't lay again until she's done.
Figure 3 weeks for broodiness, 3-5 weeks chick raising time, probable molt- it may very well be Spring before her hormone cycle causes her to start laying again. Added lighting would speed up the process.
