Phantom egg laying??

[Slaneyrose]

I have a Barred rock hen that I got in spring of this year, along with a bluebell and leghorn cross. They all started laying several weeks later and all had different coloured eggs, so easy to tell whose laying. But about 3mths ago my Barred Rock stopped laying. A month later she laird one egg with no shell, and since then she hasn't played again .... BUT, I've started to notice her getting into the next box every morning and acting like she's laying, but there's never an egg!! What's going on? Can anyone tell me??

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

not sure what's wrong, but maybe give her some oyster shell to make sure she has enough calcium for her eggs.

 

[rosemarythyme]

She probably has just enough hormones to kind of trigger the desire to seek out a nest site for laying, but not enough to trigger laying itself. Like I have one bird that spent much of springtime convincing herself that she was going to lay (she didn't, but she would sit down in the nests on schedule like she was going to) and even going broody, but she never actually laid this year.

If you're in the northern hemisphere the gradually shortening daylight hours could play into this as well.

 

[Slaneyrose]

She probably has just enough hormones to kind of trigger the desire to seek out a nest site for laying, but not enough to trigger laying itself. Like I have one bird that spent much of springtime convincing herself that she was going to lay (she didn't, but she would sit down in the nests on schedule like she was going to) and even going broody, but she never actually laid this year.

If you're in the northern hemisphere the gradually shortening daylight hours could play into this as well.

I'm in Ireland answer we had a very good summer, it's still around 14°

 

[Perris]

It sounds like she is a false layer
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultr...ive-system-in-poultry/false-laying-in-poultry

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I'm in Ireland answer we had a very good summer, it's still around 14°

It's not temperature, it's the number of daylight hours. Whether it's hot, cold, or in between, once daylight hours start seriously shortening, most chickens dial back or cease their laying.

As you're in Ireland between 52°N and 55°N, you're higher latitude (closer to the poles, north in your case) than, for instance, the US, which lies between 30°N and 49°N, excluding Alaska and Hawai'i. So your summer days are much longer than ours, and your winter days are much shorter, so quite a bit less daylight.

- and 14°C sounds absolutely lovely!