Stopped laying??

[Reurra]

So im not sure what is up with Frightful.

She stopped laying completely. Its been up to 80+ here but its been very breezy here on the shore so its not as bad as it could be.

Some changes in her life have been:

Addition of 5 chicks into the run about a month ago, though she was laying fine up to a week ago. It changed from one day lay, one day off one day lay, now its nothing at all.

Her food has been changed to grower feed, though calcium is available in a dish on the side. Some of her eggs have been pale and thin, but some are thick and dark.

I removed her rooster about 6 weeks ago or so.

Its been warm.

She is a young bird, about 6-8 months old. She has not been getting into the nest boxes at all. Crackers lays her eggs and no one disturbs them, so I dont think its egg eating. And if it were I would see damp shavings Im sure. I check the coop frequently because she does not lay at normal set times. She will sometimes lay in the morning and then sometimes she will lay as far out at 4pm. So Im not sure what to think of it.

Any ideas whats going on?

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I'm in the same boat. My two Black sex links haven't laid in a month, since we bought them. They're about 9 months old and had been consistent layers. We got them to our place and were hit with the first of two heat waves right away. Last week it went to 104.

But it's nice weather now, they're well feed with layer crumbles and stuff from our garden, they have space to roam and the nesting boxes have been waiting. We got two younger red sex links at the same time and one has been laying consistently since day #1, the other has been laying about every other day.

Not sure what's up with the black gal's. They seem more timid than the red's. Maybe they're sorting out pecking order??

 

[Reurra]

Frightful isnt timid at all, she is the only one that lets you pick her up and carry her around. She is the bully too when it comes to the other birds. She is always pushing around the kids. Crackers being the boss hen leaves the kids alone. They get greens in thier diet too, lots of dandilions. I dig up about 6 tufts and leave them in there all day to nibble.

It hasnt gotten anywhere near 100 degrees here. I might need to get more ventilation in the coop though, but even then its not been that hot in there.

Its strange because Crackers is still laying. Shes the bigger bird and has more feathering so I dont know if heat is the issue. I really dont think molting is the problem either because there are no feathers of thiers anywhere.

I wish i could open up thier little craniums and see what they are thinking!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

There could be many explanations. Something eating them is one but you seem pretty confident that is not it. The next big possibility is that she is hiding a nest on you. That's my top guess from what you describe.

Heat or other stress can cause some to reduce or stop laying. Just because not all stop does not mean that one is not affected. Some are just more sensitive than others. Your changes were long enough ago that she should be over them.

Maybe something has triggered a molt? That does not just happen in the fall.

It certainly sounds like she is not broody. They stop laying when they go broody but usually lay really well just before going broody.

80 degrees sounds cool to me by the way. I understand that in your climate that is really warm, but I would not think it is your heat causing her to stop laying though that is a possibility. We all get used to certain things and a change can upset us or them.

It is possible that it is a disease, she is internal laying, or egg bound. But if she is otherwise acting normal, it does not sound like it. You might do a search in eggbound on this forum, but I'd not over-worry about that or diseases from what you described.

Sometimes things just happen and we don't know why, but I'd really search for a hidden nest. Good luck!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is a sticky at the top of this section that might help. Here is a link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers

 

[Reurra]

Thanks Ridgerunner,

Frightful is acting normal. She isnt acting sick or unhappy. She did lay an egg today and it was normal sized, however it did have blood on it. This is the first one she has laid in this condition. It had poo on it too. She has lain much larger eggs without blood so Im not sure what to think of that.

 

[cluckermomofsix]

So, I have a similar problem. I have what I believe to be an Americauna who is 8 months old. She has been with me since a week old and also with the same members of her flock (3 buffs and 2 rhode island reds). She started producing eggs later than everyone else and produce for about a month and has now stopped. Her eggs were always smaller and she wouldn't lay daily. Funny thing now is that even though she isn't laying, she sits on everyone else's eggs. Literally, all day long. As a matter of fact, she will cuddle with my other hens while they are in the nesting boxes laying and then will take over sitting on the eggs as soon as they leave. The others roam freely in my yard all day long but she rarely comes out of the hen house anymore...she just sits on the other's eggs...any ideas?