Sudden Stop in Laying

[Jillleighbean]

Hi,

I have a hen, "Cloudy", that I bought off a man who said she was about a year old. She's a beautiful Aracauna, but has always been very flighty and nervous. She laid eggs the very next day after I brought her home and continued about an egg a day for a few weeks. Then suddenly she just stopped! This was in July. It is now October and still not one egg from the little stinker! I know the causes listed for no eggs, but wanted to put it out there to you experienced hen owners, to see if this has happened to you, and when to actually start thinking that she may be done for good. Would old age be so sudden of a stop? Are there other things I should be looking out for as signs of causes? They are all on a very good quality feed, and my other aracauna is laying mostly every day, but she is the only one! I am in a residential area, and can only have a very small flock. I want eggs!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she's a year old, old age isn't the issue. I think of old age as 5 or more. It could be molt and the shorter days if you're in the northern hemisphere.

 

[Jillleighbean]

How long before I rule out a molt or send her to greener pastures?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she's looking scruffy, she's probably molting.
Only you can determine how much you are willing to feed a bird not laying.
Everyone's management and flock purposes are different.
We used to have a flock of layers that we replaced half every year.
I now breed a rare breed and keep them for as long as they're productive if they're the right type. Even when they get older and only produce 100 eggs a year or less, they still reproduce their type.