Why did my chicken stop laying?

[candychick]

i have four layilng hen almost every day all of them would lay an egg, so we had about four eggs a day...after a while one of my chickens stopped laying for about a week, then she laid agian. but only about once a week...and a couple weeks ago she stopped laying, its been weeks and we havent had a single egg from her.
We have still been getting four eggs though, i guess my chickens are making up for her loss
Also they are less than a year old and i only have four laying hens, all different breeds...so i know the difference between the eggs

 

[sumi]

Non egg laying is usually caused by incorrect feeding, broodiness, molting, parasites, stress, environmental changes (like weather extremes), disease in some cases. But if it's only a single hen in the flock that's affected and it's been so long I'm thinking it could be broodiness or stress.

 

[candychick]

Do you think she wil ever lay again?

 

[sumi]

That depends on the cause of her non-laying. If you can figure out why she isn't laying and you can fix that... She is very young still and hens can carry on laying for years. So unless it's a serious health issue I can't see why not.

 

[candychick]

Hmm...docent seem like anything is wrong with her

 

[sumi]

Could she be stressed by something? Is the others picking on her, not allowing her to eat? Have you got time to just watch her and them for awhile, to see how's doing? Hang on, I just reread your first post. You said you have 4 hens and you've been getting 4 eggs a day. Are you sure she's not laying? I know sometimes you'd get lucky and have a hen that lays twice a day, so I won't discount that possibility, but I'm wondering... You say you know the difference between their eggs, but hen's egg appearance, colour size etc can and does change, not always dramatically, but it can happen. Stress for example has an effect on the pigment (egg colour), it can cause loss loss of pigment on she egg shells.

 

[Ezzy13]

I give my Ladies, Oats cooked with milk or water, 4 eggs, cloves of garlic, ACV, and mix in Vegemite put it in a bowl stir it all up microwave for 5 min then add the ACV i serve it a bit sloppy they love it! this is their boost feed especialy if they are going trough a molt. You could also try 1 cup of water (250ml) and a TBSP 20ml Cod liver oil.

 

[Cindy in PA]

OK, you know one hen is not laying, but you are getting 4 eggs & think the others are laying them. How do you know she is not laying? Seems unlikely 3 other hens are laying 4 eggs a day.

 

[candychick]

The other three chickens have all done double duty at least once, she is a polish and has the tiny white eggs...none of the other eggs are small or white, I know that the other three have done double at least once I don't see how it could have been my polish

 

[Anniebee]

I give my Ladies, Oats cooked with milk or water, 4 eggs, cloves of garlic, ACV, and mix in Vegemite put it in a bowl stir it all up microwave for 5 min then add the ACV i serve it a bit sloppy they love it! this is their boost feed especialy if they are going trough a molt. You could also try 1 cup of water (250ml) and a TBSP 20ml Cod liver oil.

I so love your recipe for a boost feed. I would never have thought of adding vegemite to my 3 times a week mash but will now. The mash I create is rice and vegies - all cooked up together, add a handful of bran, a handful of raw uncooked oats, some fresh greens cut up small to mix in properly, add a handful or two of scratch and a bit of crumble. Mix it all up - the cooked stuff clings to everything else, and my chickens go nuts for it. I have only 3 chickens ( that's enough for the moment ) ... and they do so all love their 'mum's mash'. !!

The ACV is a good idea too - will put a teaspoon or two in it as well - maybe alternate those two. I don't use garlic, but often cook a couple of eggs to chop up and add to the mash.

Oh what we do for our chooks.

Cheers .......... AB