I guess I'm already worried, but not sure what to do. I have a hen who as stopped laying eggs, but otherwise appears healthy. She is an orpington who is about 20 months old. She has always been a consistent layer, with eggs that were thin-shelled, but gorgeous inside -- deep orange yolks.
About three weeks ago, she began laying soft-shelled eggs, almost always at night. I first attributed that to stress, because 4 weeks ago, we had a bobcat attack which killed half the flock. However she eventually laid a few normal eggs. In the last 5 days, however, she has laid nothing. I have seen no evidence of soft-shelled eggs. I have seen her in the nest box twice, where she spends maybe an hour or two, but leaves without laying.
She is not waddling or standing oddly. Her droppings are totally normal. Her appetite is strong, she has good energy and she interacts with the flock normally. Her comb and face are bright red. I checked her over for mites and found nothing. All of the other hens are laying normally. They are fed flock raiser and sprouted grains with free-choice oyster shells. I've been adding rooster booster to their water.
The only thing odd about her is that she has never molted and thus never taken a break from egg laying. Her poor feathers are quite ragged looking as a result. I have been hoping she may be in the early stages of finally molting, but I'm not seeing any of her feathers in the coop.
Thoughts?
About three weeks ago, she began laying soft-shelled eggs, almost always at night. I first attributed that to stress, because 4 weeks ago, we had a bobcat attack which killed half the flock. However she eventually laid a few normal eggs. In the last 5 days, however, she has laid nothing. I have seen no evidence of soft-shelled eggs. I have seen her in the nest box twice, where she spends maybe an hour or two, but leaves without laying.
She is not waddling or standing oddly. Her droppings are totally normal. Her appetite is strong, she has good energy and she interacts with the flock normally. Her comb and face are bright red. I checked her over for mites and found nothing. All of the other hens are laying normally. They are fed flock raiser and sprouted grains with free-choice oyster shells. I've been adding rooster booster to their water.
The only thing odd about her is that she has never molted and thus never taken a break from egg laying. Her poor feathers are quite ragged looking as a result. I have been hoping she may be in the early stages of finally molting, but I'm not seeing any of her feathers in the coop.
Thoughts?
