Pekin stopped laying

[Myra]

I have a one year old female pekin who has been a consistant egg layer since 6 months old - an egg every other day. But now she has stopped laying altogether. Her feathers look all ruffled, but besides that she is doing fine.


Should I be concerned?

Myra

 

[chickboss]

I'm not sure, but could she be molting? She may just be pausing for awhile if that is the case.

 

[Myra]

I havn't been through a molt yet with my year old pekin drake & hen nor with my 4 chickens - so I don't know what to look for...do they go completely featherless? If they just lose a few feathers at a time and are quickly replaced with new feathers at the same time, I may never know as the birds around here quickly take all of the feathers on the ground (must be some pretty soft nests around here!).

Thanks,
Myra

 

[PlumTuckered]

The only time my Pekins stopped laying was when the had a nest full of eggs and went broody.
Ruffled feathers ... my ducks get ruffled looking when they're in a molt and when they're broody. Does your Pekin have a nest full of eggs? My Pekins all molted between 16 and 20 weeks.

Michelle