Sapphire Gem

[Adams032903]

Have a 8month old Gem. She started laying the day after Christmas 2022. She laid perfect eggs for 3 weeks. Then over the next 3 weeks she laid a shellless egg, fairy egg, 2 more shellless, 1 normal, 3 more fairy eggs in a row. Then nothing!
They get a 20% layer mash (locally made at our farm store), 7 grain scratch an hour before bed, free choice oyster shell, I feed back their egg shells, I've tried adding kitten kibble, calcium with vit A&D, and no change. my other 5 have been laying fine. It's been about 6 weeks with nothing from her. She goes in the nesting box everyday and sits for about 45min and leaves. No egg. Her rear end looks good. She eats, drinks, behaves like a normal chicken. No signs of lice or mites. Can a chicken just shut down? She's only 8 months & no molt yet. I'm a first time chicken mama and have no idea if this is normal or if she will ever lay again. Any help of advice is greatly appreciated!! Thank you so much !!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

She's still a new layer, so that's why her eggs are all messed up. Over time, they should improve. As far as no egg, it could be the time of year. We're still coming out of the cold and a lot of hens aren't up to their normal egg laying yet. Also, with hens at this age, I've had them take a month or two off without notice. On a side note, is there anywhere else she could be laying? Is the coop bedding deep where she could have her eggs getting buried? I have an 11 month old hen who is often not getting to the nesting box in time and is laying her eggs at odd hours on the coop floor. Easy, it can get missed and buried.

 

[Adams032903]

She's still a new layer, so that's why her eggs are all messed up. Over time, they should improve. As far as no egg, it could be the time of year. We're still coming out of the cold and a lot of hens aren't up to their normal egg laying yet. Also, with hens at this age, I've had them take a month or two off without notice. On a side note, is there anywhere else she could be laying? Is the coop bedding deep where she could have her eggs getting buried? I have an 11 month old hen who is often not getting to the nesting box in time and is laying her eggs at odd hours on the coop floor. Easy, it can get missed and buried.

I have pine shavings in the nest boxes. I always fluff up the shavings when I collect eggs, making sure there are no burried eggs or poo. I have construction sand under the roost in the hen house that I sift every few days. In the covered 10x10 run, I have pine pellets. When she was glitching. I found 1 fairy egg in the run and 3 of the shellless eggs in the sand under the roost bar when they went to bed for the night. 1 good egg and the last time she laid (3 fairy eggs in a row) in the nest box. I have cameras in the run & hen house so I can see who is doing what. I can live without her eggs as long as she's healthy. I just wasn't sure if she can turn off egg production after laying perfect and then all the glitches. I'm in Central PA so we are getting warmer and longer days now. How long can a chicken go on strike at laying age? So confusing. Thanks

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I have pine shavings in the nest boxes. I always fluff up the shavings when I collect eggs, making sure there are no burried eggs or poo. I have construction sand under the roost in the hen house that I sift every few days. In the covered 10x10 run, I have pine pellets. When she was glitching. I found 1 fairy egg in the run and 3 of the shellless eggs in the sand under the roost bar when they went to bed for the night. 1 good egg and the last time she laid (3 fairy eggs in a row) in the nest box. I have cameras in the run & hen house so I can see who is doing what. I can live without her eggs as long as she's healthy. I just wasn't sure if she can turn off egg production after laying perfect and then all the glitches. I'm in Central PA so we are getting warmer and longer days now. How long can a chicken go on strike at laying age? So confusing. Thanks

I'm not sure how long they can because I don't always catch it or take note. Of my newer hens, at least two of them went on strike for maybe a couple months. I'm not sure of the exact timing because I didn't realize it until they picked up laying again.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

Is your run fully enclosed? I have hens that hide their eggs that I only 50% of the time find but they free range.
Hens can stop laying if they’re too stressed or have lice/mites.They could also be eating the eggs. A couple of my girls will lay from the roost or while standing so it’ll break and they can eat it