Why no eggs?

[julie.mason]

Hello BYC! This is my first year raising chickens & I purchased 10 day old chicks from Meyer Hatchery. Aside from a bout with Bubbly eye in a couple when they were about 6 wks old my girls haven’t had any issues. They’re now roughly 6 months old & we’ve been getting between 8-10 eggs a day. The past two weeks or so I noticed we haven’t had an egg from our White Plymouth Rock. She looks & acts fine (aside from part of her comb being slightly laid over). No problems eating, drinking, or pooping & she plays around with the other gals so she doesn’t indicate she’s egg bound. But it’s been two weeks & no egg- she doesn’t even get in the boxes to lay. She’s not molting or broody so any idea what’s up with her? Before she had laid every day & then suddenly nothing.

 

[Natalie783]

Wow. I have never heard of this before. My best guess is that since it is becoming fall, and the days start to get shorter, that could be the reason your hen isn't laying. Hens usually stop laying in the winter. But it is weird to stop laying this soon. Have you recently changed their diet? That could provoke one of them to stop laying.

 

[Trish1974]

That is weird. Pullets usually lay well through their first fall and winter, at least mine did. Keep a good eye on her and randomly check her abdominal area for swelling. A few months ago my Buff Orpington quit laying. She acted and looked fine for 6-8weeks so I didn't think anything of it, but then I could tell something was wrong. She was lethargic, barely eating and had a very swollen belly. Then she started pooping what looked (and smelled) like scrambled eggs. She had egg yolk peritonitis. She passed 2 1/2 weeks ago. Good luck, hopefully it is nothing.

 

[Rob Tof]

View attachment 1154503 Hello BYC! This is my first year raising chickens & I purchased 10 day old chicks from Meyer Hatchery. Aside from a bout with Bubbly eye in a couple when they were about 6 wks old my girls haven’t had any issues. They’re now roughly 6 months old & we’ve been getting between 8-10 eggs a day. The past two weeks or so I noticed we haven’t had an egg from our White Plymouth Rock. She looks & acts fine (aside from part of her comb being slightly laid over). No problems eating, drinking, or pooping & she plays around with the other gals so she doesn’t indicate she’s egg bound. But it’s been two weeks & no egg- she doesn’t even get in the boxes to lay. She’s not molting or broody so any idea what’s up with her? Before she had laid every day & then suddenly nothing.

Do you free range she may be laying under a bush.

 

[julie.mason]

Do you free range she may be laying under a bush.

They do free range to a certain extent but its in an enclosed large garden area. I’ve checked and she’s not been laying there unfortunately

 

[julie.mason]

Wow. I have never heard of this before. My best guess is that since it is becoming fall, and the days start to get shorter, that could be the reason your hen isn't laying. Hens usually stop laying in the winter. But it is weird to stop laying this soon. Have you recently changed their diet? That could provoke one of them to stop laying.

No. No changes. She’s definitely the pushiest when it comes to getting treats & making her way to the food bin so nothing new in her diet.

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

Couple of things to check for .... diet , stress, season,age (some take longer than others to lay) ... and make sure its not a rooster - youll be waiting forever!