Please Help - One of my new layers stopped laying

[AMS2015]

We have (among a few other chickens) two Golden Sex Links that we raised from chicks. At about 20 weeks the first started laying and has been very reliable with an egg everyday. The other started about a week later and all seemed well.. After a few days, her eggs started coming out shell less or not fully developed. Then she just stopped. It has been several weeks and she has no egg laying going on at all. The others are doing well, and we make sure that their diets are proper. She seems happy and normal, but we are worried about her health.

Please advise, Thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Illness, disease or injury are always possibilities in egg laying issues.
You don't say what makes up their 'proper' diet. What makes up their total intake. Barring the unlikely illness or injury, nutrition is likely the culprit.

 

[AMS2015]

Thanks for the response, for their diet we give them a Non-GMO layer feed, scratch, mealworms, fruit and vegetable scraps and live crickets when I catch them. We also have oyster shells and grit available all of the time. This hen is one of the dominant ones that always gets to the treats first.

What really confuses us is that the other hens are not having the same issue at all. She seems like she is fine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Perhaps too many treats. If she's the dominant one that fills up on treats, that can throw off optimal nutrition.

 

[AMS2015]

That could be a possibility. I will see if we can cut back to see if she responds. Thanks!!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Keep in mind that layer feed is formulated for everything a hen needs for health, body maintenance and egg laying. When one adds other things they can throw off the balance.
For egg shell production, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3 need to be in balance with one another. Out of balance can affect egg shell quality.
Too much or too little of any of those things in relation to the other is often the problem with thin shells.

It can alwo be influenza, bronchitis, egg drop syndrome, ochratoxicosis and a few other things but they will usually have other symptoms.

 

[donrae]

Keep in mind that layer feed is formulated for everything a hen needs for health, body maintenance and egg laying. When one adds other things they can throw off the balance.
For egg shell production, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3 need to be in balance with one another. Out of balance can affect egg shell quality.
Too much or too little of any of those things in relation to the other is often the problem with thin shells.

It can alwo be influenza, bronchitis, egg drop syndrome, ochratoxicosis and a few other things but they will usually have other symptoms.

Just to add.....it's also the minimum the majority of birds need for these things. layer feed is developed to walk that fine line between optimum nutrition and feed cost. IMO some birds simply need a bit more protein to be productive. In a commercial layer flock, if a bird or two doesn't do well on layer, it's not big deal to them. To a backyard flock keeper, if one bird doesn't do well, it's an issue.