Question about non laying hens

[DownwardDog]

Hello all!
I have 10 hens, born on April 4th I think. My friend has 2 of these hens (Speckled Sussex) from the same flock. My SS have been laying since October. Hers haven't laid a single egg! What is going on? One of her SS was eaten by a fox in September -- could the other 2 be traumatized? I can't figure out what is going on. I feel bad that she still has no eggs of her own:-(. Any ideas??? Thanks!

 

[foreverlearning]

Every hen is different and some just take longer than others to start. There are many reasons that they could have not started and this is a bad time of year for them to start. The stress of the fox could have prevented them from laying for about a month if the other one was taken from the coop or run. Molting would slow down or even stop an already laying hen, in some young cases not starting until spring. Lice, mites, or worms would prevent laying. Any changes from food to living area could stress them out, they really don't like change.

There is another possibility, they are laying and she doesn't know. If they don't have access to layer feed or oyster shell they could be laying soft shelled eggs and eating them. If they are free range they could be hiding them. Believe me they are crafty as to where they can fit into to hide them. I have found some in feed buckets, storage totes, under the house, in the storage of a grill between propane tanks, in a trash can, under a log (they dug under it to make a divit), under a pile of leaves, in a planting pot, the list goes on and on.

A picture of the pullet would help us to see if they are at least close to laying. Ask if there have been any changes and if the coop is secure. Has there been anything that was out of the norm for them?

 

[DownwardDog]

I think it was stress after all. They started laying as soon as some new hens were introduced into the coop!