Pullet started laying, them stopped?

[floralace]

I have an EE pullet, not sure her exact age but she was hatched this spring. At the beginning of August she laid a tiny blue egg (I know it was her since she’s the only one that could be laying blue eggs), and in the next few days she laid a couple more. Then suddenly, she stopped laying and hasn’t laid since. She looks and acts healthy, no signs of any problems that I can tell. I’m not really concerned about her production, my other hens lay plenty of eggs, and she’s very friendly and sweet so as long as she’s happy I’m not super worried. But I’d like to know if it’s normal for young pullets to start laying early and then stop?
I guess it’s possible she has a secret nest somewhere, too, since she free-ranges. And if she’s laying eggs somewhere else, I’m sure the eggs are being eaten by wild animals, which is not ideal since I don’t want predators around. Any advice for a newish chicken owner? Thanks!

 

[floralace]

After I removed all the eggs from her hidden nest, she laid her egg in the nest box today like a big girl!

Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I have an EE pullet, not sure her exact age but she was hatched this spring. At the beginning of August she laid a tiny blue egg (I know it was her since she’s the only one that could be laying blue eggs), and in the next few days she laid a couple more. Then suddenly, she stopped laying and hasn’t laid since. She looks and acts healthy, no signs of any problems that I can tell. I’m not really concerned about her production, my other hens lay plenty of eggs, and she’s very friendly and sweet so as long as she’s happy I’m not super worried. But I’d like to know if it’s normal for young pullets to start laying early and then stop?
I guess it’s possible she has a secret nest somewhere, too, since she free-ranges. And if she’s laying eggs somewhere else, I’m sure the eggs are being eaten by wild animals, which is not ideal since I don’t want predators around. Any advice for a newish chicken owner? Thanks!

You should try keeping her contained in your coop/run for a few weeks to see if she is laying at all and not hiding her eggs out somewhere. It is possible she has ovarian failure, this is not completely uncommon in chickens. I have one of these myself. She laid one gorgeous egg at five months of age and now here a year later has not laid one since. She’s happy and healthy and we just call her our “mascot” chicken. She gets to live out her life here as there is nobody who would want to buy a chicken that doesn’t lay eggs!

 

[floralace]

Well what do you know, this morning when I let her out I saw her take off running into the bushes, and when I followed her I found her sitting on a makeshift dirt “nest” with about 5 other eggs in it

So you were all right, thanks! I’ll have to keep them all locked in their run soon anyway, to reintroduce their rooster after he heals from an injury, so hopefully she’ll start using the nest box then.

 

[Orit]

Have you checked under bushes or plants with lots of foliage? I just found 13 eggs in a secluded corner of my yard this morning! And they belonged to my Speckled Sussex who did the same thing as yours did. Laid a few in the beginning, and then stopped for a couple weeks. Now I know she didn't stop!

 

[floralace]

Have you checked under bushes or plants with lots of foliage? I just found 13 eggs in a secluded corner of my yard this morning! And they belonged to my Speckled Sussex who did the same thing as yours did. Laid a few in the beginning, and then stopped for a couple weeks. Now I know she didn't stop!

Haha, I might just do that. She’s definitely at the bottom of the pecking order since she’s the youngest of my birds, so she might be getting chased out of the nest boxes.

 

[aart]

You should try keeping her contained in your coop/run for a few weeks to see if she is laying at all and not hiding her eggs out somewhere.

Ditto Dat!!