Penny still hasn't laid any eggs :(

[alecia86]

We got Penny two weeks ago today. We found her wandering through my partner's parents backyard. We got her at night, so she went to sleep, and the next day she laid an egg. The following day, she laid an egg. The day after that, we took her to my Nan's house because she escaped from our house and ran away (We found her again obviously). I don't know if she laid eggs at my Nan's house or not...

We brought her home on Saturday (It's Wednesday today, so 5 days ago) and she still hasn't laid an egg.

We have her in a cage on her own (are going to get her a friend, just have to find one), it is 1.7m long, 1m high, 80cm wide. It has a little house in it, which has a nesting box (Which I have filled with hay, and also put a golf ball in yesterday). I have been letting her out for a few hours a day (as much as I can spare to follow her around the yard to ensure she doesn't fly away). There's a lot of grass, weeds, dirt, stones, etc where she walks around. I also feed her some mix of pellets, seeds, etc that I bought from the RSPCA (and it says its a complete feed). Also giving her some fine grit mixed into that. Then I feed her other food - veggie scraps, plus watermelon, peaches, apple. I clean her water bowl out at least once a day. She poos constantly. I think she seems pretty happy, she happily follows me around the yard, and last night was making what I would call a chicken equivalent of purring when I was patting her.

But still, no eggs.

Do you think it's just stress of being moved around so much? Or could it be because it is quite hot? I put some ice cubes in her water today to try to cool her down a bit. (It's 33 degrees celcius currently). Or is she lacking in something? I am happy to wait it out, and I don't really eat eggs anyway, so it's not because I need them. But I want to make sure she is ok.

 

[sourland]

The eggs that she laid initially were eggs that were already being developed in the 'assembly line'. The change in environment will probably cause her to stop laying for a period of time.

 

[gryeyes]

What sourland said.

 

[alecia86]

Well that definitely makes sense! I had wondered if it might be something like that...

Any idea roughly what sort of time frame I might be looking at? (a week, a month, a year?) Like I said, I am really not concerned about the eggs, but I want to make sure she's ok

and out of curiosity, the "assembly line" - how long does it take to actually produce an egg?

 

[goldfinches]

Sounds like you're learning quickly and taking good care of her. It's good that she found you

 

[alecia86]

Thanks goldfinches! That means SO MUCH to me! I really want to do right by her, and I feel so guilty because I have to go back to work tomorrow, and she won't be getting as much attention. lol... I know that I am babying her, and she really doesn't need to be watched nearly as much as I am, but I feel awful having her cooped up so much. We must get her a friend and an extension to go on her coop!

 

[CluckAcres]

Well that definitely makes sense! I had wondered if it might be something like that...

Any idea roughly what sort of time frame I might be looking at? (a week, a month, a year?) Like I said, I am really not concerned about the eggs, but I want to make sure she's ok

and out of curiosity, the "assembly line" - how long does it take to actually produce an egg?

Well if you keep her happy and the stress level goes down she will start laying again. Sometimes it takes a week or little longer. It also depends on your climate. If its cold and snowy she could stop laying for awhile sometimes up till it get warm again. She cant just say "i am not going to lay today or i am going to lay today" Her body just tells her to lay or not to lay. Think of it this way when a woman is carrying a baby she cant just say ok im going to have this baby today, the body knows when its ready and will do the work. Same thing with a chicken laying a egg. lol I hope i didnt make this confusing for you.

 

[alecia86]

Thankyou! That does make perfect sense. Like I said, I am only worried about her health, not the eggs. I have eggs in the fridge going off because I just don't use them. (Partner won't eat "Chicken Periods" *rolls eyes*)

 

[CluckAcres]

Thankyou! That does make perfect sense. Like I said, I am only worried about her health, not the eggs. I have eggs in the fridge going off because I just don't use them. (Partner won't eat "Chicken Periods" *rolls eyes*)

Im sure she will be fine. She needs friends tho that will make her really happy.