Leghorn Mix Laying Question

[ClareScifi]

I have a hen who turned two at the end of last September. She is half white leghorn and half something else-- probably Buff Orpington or Brahma. She has laid really well, but about 4 days ago she laid a tiny white yolkless egg and hasn't laid any eggs since. She seems healthy and happy.

Someone suggested that she may be done laying forever. Is this typical of this breed mix? I have a Barred Rock girl who will be 4 this month, and she is still laying great.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Wind/fart/rooster eggs are usually just a glitch in the egg laying system when a small piece of reproductive tissue breaks away and is treated it like a yolk and a shell is formed around it. They are pretty common in new layers or birds just stopping or starting a laying cycle, sometimes they just seem to show up randomly. It would worry me since she stopped after that egg. Do you know if she specifically was laying normally until she laid that egg? I would check her over carefully, especially her abdomen and keep an eye on her. What they may have been referring with her breed mix is that commercial white leghorns especially seem to be really prone to reproductive problems as they get older since they are bred to produce a lot of eggs in a short period of time, rather than for a long life. Hopefully being a mix she will have a longer life and this is just a glitch. Is she due to molt? Have the hens been under any stress lately?

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks, Kelsie. Someone in another group tells me her Orpington girl is 3 and has stopped laying. My girl WAS laying quite normally until she laid that tiny yolkless egg. The only stress I can think of is being chased by the rooster, but all the girls deal with that. It's nothing new. Do you think that little egg could have signaled the very end of her laying cycle? Folks in another group are suggesting this possibility. She is not due to molt.

 

[ClareScifi]

Well, happy outcome, today. A nice big white egg was laid by my girl. I am so relieved! I guess it was just a blip in her egg-laying that produced the tiny egg. She seems happy and healthy. I gave her yogurt, eggshells, and organic greens today, and ACV in her water, and she took a dust bath in fresh pine shavings and seems to be a very Happy Camper!