"Retired" chicken laying again?!

[ScotianChick]

I couldn't believe this myself... I have one Rhode Island Red left from my old flock I got several years ago. She is over 3 years old. Last year she decided to stop laying entirely and devout herself complete to being the "rooster" of the flock. Her vent got tiny, she got really thin, she stopped laying, and she lead the flock around the yard and mated with the other hens. All of a sudden as of a couple weeks ago, I notice her combs and wattles are really really bright. My puppy sitter swears she saw this chicken (Alabama) leaving the nest box one day. Finally today she is singing and egg song, I check her vent, it's big again, she is getting heavier and her legs look brighter. How weird is that!!

So I guess the moral of the story goes, even if you choose to let a couple of your hens retire and not become stew, they may surprise you with eggs!!

 

[gg706]

Interesting......Was she ill or molting? Not sure how or why that would happen. Maybe some more experienced chicken keepers will have some answers.

 

[azygous]

Did you, by any chance, recently introduce some new pullet layers into the flock?

I've had older hens who had quit laying start laying again when pullets began to lay their first eggs. It's as if it stimulated their hormone production.

Any other change in the flock may have triggered this change.

 

[ScotianChick]

I did actually just a few weeks ago!

 

[azygous]

I wonder if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon.

However, the effect, disappointingly, doesn't seem to have a long term effect. But you should be getting some extra eggs for several weeks, at least.