Pullet laying 1 egg a week

[newbiechickenmamma11]

She's still considered a new layer so her body might not be regulated yet. Is the egg you're getting normal in size, color and shell composition? Does it contain a healthy yolk?
Does her poop still look normal? Vent remains clean?
They are good at hiding when things are wrong so just continue to monitor her behavior. Since it is normal currently and she is laying an egg weekly I wouldn't worry yet.
Like Turkeys provided good insight with internal laying issues.

Thank you for your reply. The eggs she lays have been elongated in shape, but standard size/weight. Not sure if the elongated egg shape means anything. The shell composition has been fine, yolk looks healthy, poop looks normal, vent remains clean.

I will keep monitoring, I guess I'm worried she's internal laying, but when I feel her abdomen it feels squishy like the others. I will check again today and report back.

 

[Bawkbok]

Not sure if the elongated egg shape means anything.

It just means it's her style. Perfectly normal. We have an Orpington that lays an elongated shaped egg, sort of pointy on one end. She's been doing it consistently for months so I know it's just the shape of her egg.

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

Hi all, thought I'd update that this chicken in question is still going with infrequent laying. At the moment, the last egg she laid was November 6, so it's been about 4 weeks since then. She still goes to the nesting box 3-5 times a week and sits there for a good hour, acting like she's going to lay an egg, but then she leaves and no egg is laid (I know as I have cameras in the nesting box to observe).

She otherwise still is acting normal, eating normal, hasn't carked it ..yet.

I hope it's just something naturally gone wrong with her reproductive system (maybe she wasn't born with many eggs or something?) that doesn't otherwise affect her health?

 

[Perris]

Hi all, thought I'd update that this chicken in question is still going with infrequent laying. At the moment, the last egg she laid was November 6, so it's been about 4 weeks since then. She still goes to the nesting box 3-5 times a week and sits there for a good hour, acting like she's going to lay an egg, but then she leaves and no egg is laid (I know as I have cameras in the nesting box to observe).

She otherwise still is acting normal, eating normal, hasn't carked it ..yet.

I hope it's just something naturally gone wrong with her reproductive system (maybe she wasn't born with many eggs or something?) that doesn't otherwise affect her health?

It sounds to me like she is just a relatively poor layer; there is a lot of variation in lay rates between hens, and some lay infrequently or even not at all - they are called false layers, who go into nest boxes as your does but who never actually lay an egg - in the same way that some are highly productive and are the sort that have been selectively bred over generations to create modern commercial layer breeds.

If she is happy and healthy, as she appears to be, she will probably not only be fine, but will probably not suffer issues of the reproductive tract that her more prolific sisters might, and she will also probably keep laying for years longer than they do.

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

It sounds to me like she is just a relatively poor layer; there is a lot of variation in lay rates between hens, and some lay infrequently or even not at all - they are called false layers, who go into nest boxes as your does but who never actually lay an egg - in the same way that some are highly productive and are the sort that have been selectively bred over generations to create modern commercial layer breeds.

If she is happy and healthy, as she appears to be, she will probably not only be fine, but will probably not suffer issues of the reproductive tract that her more prolific sisters might, and she will also probably keep laying for years longer than they do.

Oh great - I haven't heard of false layers before. That does sound like her. She is an easter egger and her fellow hatchmates lay 4-5 times a week. But I'm sure she could just be an outlier and something went the opposite way in her genetics. Thanks!

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of laying is genetic. It is like feeding kids the same food, and some grow taller. Generally speaking if they are active, bright eyed and eating...well there is not much more a person can do.

 

[Bawkbok]

She otherwise still is acting normal, eating normal, hasn't carked it ..yet.

I hope it's just something naturally gone wrong with her reproductive system (maybe she wasn't born with many eggs or something?) that doesn't otherwise affect her health?

As long as she is acting normal, I wouldn't worry about her laying cycle. It sounds like it is just her. Not all chickens are solid producers, even of the same breed.
I hope there is nothing wrong with her reproductive system and that it's just her natural self as not a strong layer.

We have a hen that laid an egg almost every day for 12-16 days in a row, then she would take a day or two off and repeat the cycle even during triple digit heat indices over the long hot summer; then about two months ago, she suddenly stopped laying all together. After a month of nothing, she laid one egg, then nothing again for weeks. She goes to the nest every day and will sit there for hours without anything. I am assuming and hopeful she will resume her schedule once days grow in length again --- or --- she could be done as a layer. Young at only 14 months I hope she hasn't depleted her supply of eggs but she should be laying throughout the winter as others are, despite the shorter days, albeit with less frequency. As you, I initially was worried she has an internal problem, but health and behavior are all normal. Just sharing this story to hopefully alleviate your fears.

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

As long as she is acting normal, I wouldn't worry about her laying cycle. It sounds like it is just her. Not all chickens are solid producers, even of the same breed.
I hope there is nothing wrong with her reproductive system and that it's just her natural self as not a strong layer.

We have a hen that laid an egg almost every day for 12-16 days in a row, then she would take a day or two off and repeat the cycle even during triple digit heat indices over the long hot summer; then about two months ago, she suddenly stopped laying all together. After a month of nothing, she laid one egg, then nothing again for weeks. She goes to the nest every day and will sit there for hours without anything. I am assuming and hopeful she will resume her schedule once days grow in length again --- or --- she could be done as a layer. Young at only 14 months I hope she hasn't depleted her supply of eggs but she should be laying throughout the winter as others are, despite the shorter days, albeit with less frequency. As you, I initially was worried she has an internal problem, but health and behavior are all normal. Just sharing this story to hopefully alleviate your fears.

That sounds exactly like my hen. Appreciate you sharing. I will just continue to monitor. As long as nothing else is wrong I'm fine with her just doing her thing

 

[Mark Park]

Hi there, I have a pullet that just started laying early July. The first month or so she was laying 4-5 eggs a week, but it's slowly dropped down and the past 4 weeks she's laying one egg a week.

I wanted to check if there might be something wrong with her healthwise? or if this is normal pattern of lay? All other chickens in my flock are laying regularly/normally.

She was wormed with Flubenol approx 3 months ago, but hasn't had mite/lice treatment before.

Is she moulting? Or stressed out? Or sick? Or covered in bugs? Or injured? Is she laying them somewhere out in the yard where you can't find them? Is someone helping themself to your eggs? Do you have a predator?

 

[Bawkbok]

All good thought provoking questions, Mark.

@Newbiechickenmam hasn't commented or updated since December so hopefully the void means all is well with her chicken.

For others reading this that may be new to chickening.....the impact of stress cannot be under stated. We had all strong layers until weeks ago when massive construction noise started right across the street from us - first the destruction of large trees, the constant beeping from first light until dark, literally all day for four days, the shaking and vibration of the ground from heavy equipment, then the construction trucks bringing in sand, leveling the lot, more dumpster trucks, all day for days on end. The stress was markedly noticeable on the chickens' faces. I spent more time with them but that did nothing to alleviate their panic in trying to get away from the noise but there was no where to go. Needless to say, egg laying ceased and two developed lash egg problems. They didn't want to leave the run to even forage - the noise was just too loud and scary. It wasn't until a full week of 'silence' (normal neighborhood noise) that they started to act normal again. Still having laying problems and now icky poop so they are on Corid. Nothing else in their world changed other than the intense noise.

City living at its worst.