Light Brahma change in laying behavior

[mola_mil]

My now 1 year old Light Brahma has a rather erratic egg production. We are in California. Last year when she first started laying she would lay one a day, beginning early in the morning for the first day and then lay an hour or two later the next, continuing for 6 days straight. She'd then take a day off, and start the cycle back, just like clockwork. This continued from about July (when she first started laying) until about November. She then molted and stopped all together until about February. She then started with about 3 per week, but quickly got back to her 6. But within the last several weeks she has been very erratic. We thought she was going broody because she wasn't roosting at night- instead we were finding her in the nesting box, and then somtimes during the day we found her in the nesting box, but she didn't lay an egg. I've been tracking her production for the last two weeks and she's gone 2 days and then a day off, then 3 days and then a day off, and then one day and a day off. She's also laid later in the afternoon on her day back to laying after her break, and then on the next day layed earlier in the morning.

We've got 3 other hens (one Sicilian Buttercup and two Polish Bantams) and they are laying just as they did last year (after a break in the winter). All the girls live together and eat essentially the same food. I'm concerned that our Brahma, Fluffy, is maybe not getting all that she needs nutritionwise or has some other issue.

Does anyone know if this is normal behavior for the Brahma?

 

[Happy Chooks]

My light brahma is over 3 years old and she lays every other day.

I'd say from the sounds of things (especially being in the nest box at night) that she's going to go broody soon - she's just not there yet. You'll know when she stays in the nest box all the time and quits laying completely.