Molting and eggs

[Fredf]

How long after a hen has completed her molt does egg laying return? I have one that seems to have completed her molt, back to herself, but hasn’t started laying again. She’s probably around 18 months old and seem perfectly healthy.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It could be anywhere from weeks to never.
Keep in mind that we are between the summer and winter solstice. Declining day length is a signal not to reproduce. Where I live, we now have about 10 hours of light. If I had to guess, without adding light, you are probably looking at January or February when daylength is noticeable to the birds.

 

[Fredf]

It could be anywhere from weeks to never.
Keep in mind that we are between the summer and winter solstice. Declining day length is a signal not to reproduce. Where I live, we now have about 10 hours of light. If I had to guess, without adding light, you are probably looking at January or February when daylength is noticeable to the birds.

 

[Fredf]

Thanks for the info. Hope she’ll come around she was very reliable, but she’s a sweetheart.

 

[RedWolfTX]

My birds molted in September, and haven’t laid since. For the first time in three years, we are back to buying eggs from the grocery store.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

After all that work and expense, buying store eggs is a bummer.
That's only happened one time in my chicken keeping. Hatching and adding pullets each year helps as does hoarding eggs in August/September.

 

[Casastash]

My girls started a hard moult and after a thorough inspection are just finishing!!!!! We have had the sporadic eggs during this time and this morning I was lucky enough to find 2! Our girls are protesting outside so they only get kicked out of the barn on really nice days, however still make a show of shivering and huddling by the barn door....
We recently put our barn lights on for 2 hours early in the morning and hopefully that is going to get laying going. Good luck!