Molting

[cjfumf]

Hi,

This is our first year going through the molting process. One of my hens was clearly molting based on how they looked and the amount of feathers they lost. She stopped laying for a while, but now is back in force! However, one of my regular layers stopped laying and it does not appear that she's molting. All looks normal with her, no evidence of worms anywhere and hardly any feathers lying about. No evidence of fighting or squabbles with other hens. One new one added months ago, but she stopped laying well after that.

Any ideas?

She was a regular white egg layer before. She's only about 1 year old. Along with molting in the fall and winter time do they also just stop laying during this time anyway?

I checked today and I saw a very small white egg in the batch that I think might be hers since they all lay different colors.

Thanks
Mark

 

[ChicKat]

Hi,

This is our first year going through the molting process. One of my hens was clearly molting based on how they looked and the amount of feathers they lost. She stopped laying for a while, but now is back in force! However, one of my regular layers stopped laying and it does not appear that she's molting. All looks normal with her, no evidence of worms anywhere and hardly any feathers lying about. No evidence of fighting or squabbles with other hens. One new one added months ago, but she stopped laying well after that.

Any ideas?

She was a regular white egg layer before. She's only about 1 year old. Along with molting in the fall and winter time do they also just stop laying during this time anyway?

I checked today and I saw a very small white egg in the batch that I think might be hers since they all lay different colors.

Thanks
Mark

Hi Mark!

Depending on where you are -- the lack of eggs could be from the short daylight and long nights. commercial egg producers put artificial lighting in the coops to keep the hens in lay. I think around 14 hours of light is a threshold for chickens to lay -- and fewer hours of light will supress the egg-laying cycle.

as the days grow longer she will resume her normal performance. She just needed a vacation. Maybe the small white egg is a signal that she is starting up again.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Laying in winter can be sporadic or even non existent in some hens, each are different, be happy that at least someone is laying at this time of year.