Rhode Island Red laid 1 egg, and hasn't laid for 4 weeks.

[ABeautifulLife]

Hi all,

My Rhode Island Red is 33 weeks old (8 months), and laid her first and only egg at 29 weeks old on Nov 1st. She is not the youngest hen, but I belive she is on the bottom of totem poll. She doesn't get picked on or tormented by other hens or even the rooster for that matter. We live in Central Florida and temps have been getting down in the 40's occasionally and it is their first winter (I know its not cold for everyone ). I'm pretty sure these birds can handle these temps with no problem. We have had young chicks around them (separated by a pen) from the time the chicks were 6-13 weeks (now), and this hen is by far the meanest to them. She will go out of her way to chase them and try to hurt them. She will follow them around the outside of their pen trying to chase them. She is not mean to any humans or any of the other chickens.Very frustrating that my other 2 RIR's are laying regularly and I get nothing from her. I have seen her in the nesting boxes trying to lay, but there is never an egg. Has anyone ever had a hen with this problem? HELP!

 

[foreverlearning]

For your first problem, she is the bottom of the pecking order and is trying to move up a little. By her being mean to the little ones she is trying to let them know that she is above them. It is your choice if you want to keep her but know that this is something that she will always do and not a trait you want to breed. I cull for over aggressive birds so that I do not pass on this trait. Don't get me wrong, they have pecking order tuffs that will happen and shouldn't be punished but what she is doing is going too far.

For the second problem, there are 3 possibilties. First is that she is a pullet and may not have figured out the whole egg laying process yet. The only thing to do is to wait. The second is she may be going threw her juvinile molt (correct time of year). The only thing you can do here is to give her extra protein and wait it out. The third is she may be hiding the eggs somewhere. If she is free range you need to check everywhere including under the house for the nest. They are crafty in their hiding places! I have found them under a log, under the house, under a travel trailer where they opened a storage bin and laid inside, in a feed bucket, in an empty trashcan, and in a flower pot. Try putting a few eggs in the nesting box and lock her in the coop for a day, they usually correct their spot after that.

 

[ABeautifulLife]

Thanks for the info foreverlearning. I thought she may be hiding eggs and I had problems with another hen hiding them so they stay in the coop until at least one of the 3 hens lay. I'm almost 100% positive that she is not hiding them because I have kept her in the coop for a couple days to see if this was the problem and still nothing. My other 2 hens are only a week or two older/younger and have been laying for 2 months now. Time will tell I guess. I'm not familiar with their molting process. Do hens usually do it together or is it a separate process? Thanks for all or the help!

 

[foreverlearning]

They say it has to do with the weather and should all be close in time frame. I have experienced something a little different. All of my Black Jersey Giants molted at the same time (August). My RIR's did it one at a time, waiting for the other to finish before they would start (Starting in September and last one finishing now). My Silkie mix rooster (older than the rest of the flock) and one Black Langshan did it in the hottest part of summer (Middle of July). I am still waiting for the other 2 Langshans to start. My Blue Sumatra looked like she was starting in September but went broody instead. In a juvenile molt they just look a little ruffled and it looks like a down comforter blew up in the coop.