Will my EE ever lay again?

[shellybean40]

It has been at least 4 months since she started molting. She has looked beautiful for over 2 months with her pretty new feathers. She is my only green egg layer, so I absolutely know she is not yet laying. She only free ranges for an hour before dark, so no hidden nest. How much longer do I have to wait for my pretty green eggs?

 

[Mahonri]

My Ameraucanas and EEs have always been off and on. Not the most dependable layers.

You may not see another egg till spring. I know. Sad. I hope I'm wrong

 

[shellybean40]

I just love my EEs! I have 2 more hens, but they are laying brown eggs.

I have one little girl, who is a half bantam EE. We can only hope she lays a blue or green egg.

 

[urbanfarmqueen]

HI, I have two EE and yes my girls take their time to start laying again after their molt. Mine molt 1-2 times a year and they all do it around the same time as each other. In winter, which is usually mild here in SoCal, my girls seem to always molt in mid to late September and I don't see any eggs again until mid to late Nov. My first year with them they molted in November then didn't lay all winter till late Feb. After that year we installed a coop light. It comes on in the AM 1 hour before sunrise and goes off at night 1 hour after sunset. This helped reduce the period of no eggs. After the molt I place a fake egg (golf ball) in the boxes to encourage them to lay, plus I up their treats a little for moral. I call it pumping them up.

I use organic plain yogurt, swiss cheese, canned corn, chopped up dried apple rings & cabbage on a string. I toss them flakes of alfalfa with scratch underneath in the late summer/fall as well. Due to the dry summers we have my yard is pretty much gone by this time of year so I figure the alfalfa will give them some of the greens they need. Its also important to keep them extra strong during the molt with their nutrition (calcium, etc).

Don't worry the EE are great layers. They will come back around. I wish I had more of the breed. I love the taste and the compliments I get on the blue green eggs.