Mystery hen

[Peppypap]

Hello, I have a 1 1/2 year old EE who is not laying eggs. Almost every day she goes into the coop and acts like she is laying, but comes out a little while later and there is no egg. She is not acting strange at all and this has gone on for the last 2weeks. She also had damaged feathers for almost 4 months and has been dusted for mites And the coop has been treated. She is the only hen affected and they sleep close together at night. Any idea what is wrong??

ETA: the coop has been completely cleaned TWICE and we have dusted every nook and cranny and just switched from hay to shaving yesterday. A flock of three big hens, two little Cochins, and a polish Pullet share the coop and non of the other are acting strangeexcept the polish, who has been a nut since we got her. Extremly chatty.

 

[tazcat70]

Sounds like she might be molting.

 

[Peppypap]

Hmmm... She hasn't lost any feathers. And aren't they supposed to molt in the fall? I'm just wondering.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

Quote:
Some molt in the spring too!

 

[justafewchickens]

You say she is a year and a half? Has she molted before now? If not then i would think she is preparing to. Mine molted last fall, but stopped egg production before i could tell, like the body was using the protein to make feathers before any noticeable loss of feathers. They do molt in spring too. Seems to depend on when they hatched.

Just keep an eye on her in case it might be another problem.

 

[Peppypap]

Okay! Thank you!! I'll keep an eye on her.

 

[Peppypap]

The only problem with the molting theory is that the feathers arent falling off, they just look like they are disintegrating at the ends... And on her underside she has a lot of quils, but They look like they have been stripped of the vane...

 

[Peppypap]

She is still acting normal, but the feathers havent fallen off or anything yet, and she still isn't laying eggs...