Two year old chicken stopped laying

jimtyp

Hatching
May 18, 2015
7
0
7
I have 3 chickens. All are 2 years old as of May 20, got them all as 1 day old. One has stopped laying (Barred Plymouth Rock), the other 2 are still laying at least 3 eggs a week. She has not laid in the last 4 weeks. Up until then she laid at least 3 times a week. She is very healthy. Still "bows" when I go to pick her up. Comb and wattle are as red as ever. No signs of cuts or wounds. Feathers are as good as ever. Eats and drinks well. No weight loss. Still socializes with the other 2 chickens and with us. No sign of stress or being picked on. If anything she is the queen of the roost, but all 3 get along very well. She is not sitting on the nest, being broody. All three are always together.

Confused as to why this one stopped laying at what I understand should still be a fairly productive age.

Any ideas?


Thanks,
Jim
 
Thanks for all the nice warm welcomes :) I've learned a lot from this site. First time I needed to post as I can't seem to find an answer as to why our girl is not laying, but seems healthy. We are not worried about the eggs, our chickens are pets. We are okay if she is done laying eggs. Just want to make sure nothing is wrong with her.

I don't think it's possible she has a hidden nest. The chickens are always in their coop, run or mobile tractor in the yard. We don't let them free range, too many things like chicken. Red Tailed Hawks are the biggest culprit here.

I should also add that I check/clean the coop droppings board daily, well almost daily. All poo looks normal. She doesn't walk funny or straining, or anything else that would indicate she is egg bound. And can't feel any lumps near her vent.

She does lay down on the ground more than the other two, but she's always been that way.

-Jim
 
What breed(s) are your other birds? I am asking as 3 eggs per week for a BPR that young is not really stellar production and if the other two birds are breeds that would be expected to produce a little better as well it may be that there are some adjustments to be made that would benefit the entire flock. It could be that she is just the first to finally give into what could be a small thing that is putting a strain on them to maintain production - you may see the rest of the flock follow suit.
 
The other two are a Buff Orpington and Speckled Sussex. When I say at least 3 eggs a week, that would be the lowest I've seen from them. So no eggs in 4 weeks is quite a drastic change. The Speckled Sussex lays sometimes 5 or 6 times a week, but three is the least I've seen from her. The Buff O. is slightly less at 4 to 5 times a week, but again 3 a week would be the least. We feed them this: http://www.ranch-way.com/products/poultry-feed/ranch-way-16-poultry-layer-complete

With occasional scratch, cabbage and other greens.
 
Since there have not been any responses I assume that folks are as stumped as I am?
 
Good news! After not laying for 6 weeks our BPR has started laying again! Woohoo! I'm mainly relieved as I believe this means she is as healthy as she looks :)

Visited with some folks nearby that said some of theirs stopped laying for a while also. They thought it was related to the weather.

Thanks for all the help!

-Jim
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom