m_friday12
Hatching
- Jun 10, 2020
- 3
- 0
- 6
My sweet 30-week barred Plymouth Rock hen was an absolute machine when she began laying. Like clockwork, she would hop into the nesting box and produce an egg for us ever day around midmorning. In the past 10 days, though, she has completely stopped laying, and I don't know why!
For some background: I've searched their run and can be confident she is not "stashing" her eggs somewhere without my knowledge. She is also the same energetic, entertaining bird she has been all along: great appetite for food and water, and no odd behavior.
Two ideas come to mind. The first (and easiest) explanation is that fall came a little early to our neck of the woods. We had an early snowfall, but have since returned to warmer weather. Our days are still 12+ hours long. I know chickens typically stop laying during the winter, but this seems excessively early...by my count, it'll be over 180 days until our days lengthen again! If this is the culprit, is it really normal to have egg production for only a two-thirds of the year?
The second is that she suffered what seems to be a minor injury to her beak. A layer on the front of her beak seems to have been chipped or peeled off. I've treated the area with Vetericyn, but I've seen no blood and she does not react with any pain to the area being touched. Is this a cause for concern?
Thanks for your thoughts!!
For some background: I've searched their run and can be confident she is not "stashing" her eggs somewhere without my knowledge. She is also the same energetic, entertaining bird she has been all along: great appetite for food and water, and no odd behavior.
Two ideas come to mind. The first (and easiest) explanation is that fall came a little early to our neck of the woods. We had an early snowfall, but have since returned to warmer weather. Our days are still 12+ hours long. I know chickens typically stop laying during the winter, but this seems excessively early...by my count, it'll be over 180 days until our days lengthen again! If this is the culprit, is it really normal to have egg production for only a two-thirds of the year?
The second is that she suffered what seems to be a minor injury to her beak. A layer on the front of her beak seems to have been chipped or peeled off. I've treated the area with Vetericyn, but I've seen no blood and she does not react with any pain to the area being touched. Is this a cause for concern?
Thanks for your thoughts!!