We have only two chickens. The first is about 6.5 months old and started laying about 3-4 weeks ago. She was laying an egg about 6 days a week.

All of a sudden she has stopped laying and tends to sit in the one spot (nest) for most of the day, where she can be approached easily and appears in an almost hypnotic state. She still appears to be eating and drinking fine.

I have heard that when chickens malt they stop laying. She is losing feathers but only a small amount. Would it be normal for such a young bird to start malting or stop laying eggs after only 4 weeks of laying, or is the bird sick..

The weather has not been getting any colder.

Any suggestions,

A very new recruit to raising chickens,

rnelson@actonline.com.au

What breed is your hypnotized hen? If it has not been getting colder (how cold is it where you live?) the length of day may be a factor. For optimum laying, hens usually need about 14 hours of daylight. You can provide this with a timer that comes on early enough in the morning to provide 14 hours. Do not put them on artificial light at night. If the light goes off suddenly, they won't be on the roost.

They also need a steady diet of 16% protein feed that is palatable and always available.

From your description, she may be broody. Some breeds are very prone to this. I once had buff cochins that laid about two dozen eggs, then spent the next two months ticked off that anyone was bothering them. This is a good trait, of course, if you want hens hatching eggs. For better production, other breeds may suit you better.

For their ages, they are too young to moult. Did you raise them from chicks or did you get them from someone as grown birds? Unfortunately there are people out there who will sell their laying hens just before they are due to moult, and mischaracterize their true ages.

So long as her appetite is good and the conditions she enjoys are favorable, the above suggestions may help. Chickens do not handle cold very well, and need to be protected from drafts and dampness. They should have a good roosting area which is warmer than the rest of their building. With only two birds, they may have trouble maintaining their desired warmth.

The basic point is, anything which affects vital functions will usually cause production to be reduced first. Look to their basic needs to solve this problem if they are only six months old.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Just in response to your questions. I reside in Australia and it is currently the middle of summer so it is 25 + celcius here at the moment with nights getting down to a minimium of 12 degrees celcius. The days are also long with 15 hours of daylight currently.

Both chickens are fed on a commercially bought formulla of growers pellets at the moment. We have raised the chicks since they were two weeks old.

As for the breed. I am not sure. She appears to be a cross breed, in that she is black and white speckled, average size and shape when compared to a common white hen (sorry I am new to chickens and not fimilar with breeds).

The other hen has not started laying yet but is a different species and is all brown.

I have also noticed that she has become quite agressive towards the other chicken at times. Apart from that she appears healthy with a good diet and healthy comb and feathers.

I think your belief that the hen is broody may be correct, although is it common for a six month old hen to become broody after only laying for 3 to 4 weeks.

Further the eggs that she had been laying were only small 25-35 grams.

Both chickens free-range the yard during the day which is large and are placed in a coop at night which offers full protection from wind and rain and has a roost about 2ft from the ground.

What's do you believe the diagnoses is Doc.

Thanks in Advance,

It does seem awfully early to be broody. Broody hens
are not a specialty, so maybe someone else can help
us here. I would definitely take them off the starter
feed and find a non-medicated layer feed that supplies
16% protein. Perhaps they are getting a diet that is too
high-powered.
I don't know what the equivalent of 25
celsius is at the moment, but heat can cause them to
cut back. The small eggs are to be expected for the first
six weeks or so of production, and also sometimes when
they come back from an off-production period. I can't help
you on the breed from your description, but there are
relatively few top-notch layer breeds. Many breeds raised
mostly for show do not actually lay very well, although
there are exceptions.
Is the water clean and attractive to them? Check with the
people you got them from to see if you could get any
breed info. I hope this helps.
I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier. Have been away from the
screen for a few days.

HI.Im in New Zealand.I have a pet silky hen.Shes 6 months.Layed an egg everyday last week, then every 2 days.Now its been 4 days.She sits in her favorite spot, andgets down only seldom for a dust bath or a little food.When she did lay eggs she would nest for 2 hours and pant on and off.Is this common?2 Days a go she panted, and I though she would lay..but no more.Is she sick?Egg bound ( I dont feel anything) Could an egg have broke inside? Shes a great pet, but I dont want to spend $$ on a vet If its nothing to worry about...but she does sit alot!!!!!HELP me soon.Thanks, Jill

Chickens pant when they are overly warm, as other animals do. With it being summer there, heat stress is likely to be a factor in your production. I have never had silkies, but even our "egg factory" chickens that we have on the farm will cut back on production during a heat wave. When this happens, I always try to provide more ventilation or cooling during the day and I go to extra lengths to make sure their water is fresh and palatable. Rinse your fountains and wash them with a little bleach water (letting the bleach water sit overnight where they can't find it is best) and rinse thoroughly after this cleaning. Then refill with cool, clean water. When it is hot they need to drink water, and if the water they have is not very good, they will drink less than they should.

Vinegar is good for man and beast. Try adding a little apple cider vinegar to the water. I would use a couple of teaspoons per gallon as a tonic, but someone may have a better idea on this than I do.

If their nests are on a side of the building that is warm during their laying time, try to cool this area down with more shade or by allowing more air to circulate in the next area. Hens like it to be dark and a little secretive where they lay, so try not to add light as you add air.

In the summer time here, our hens will sit on the ground in the shade for much of the day when the heat gets bad, and they love to take dirt baths. During the hottest part of the day they will stay in the shade as much as possible, going to their henhouse only when needed to drink, eat, or lay. For most of the day, the henhouse is empty.

Perhaps someone who is better acquainted with your breed could tell us about the laying habits of silkies and about their stress tolerance. From what you describe, I don't think there's anything to be alarmed about. Look to their comfort and environment.

One other thing I thought of was flock numbers. When we
have a flock of, say, 25 birds and our production goes
from 20 per day to 16, we don't think much of it. During that time, however, certain birds have quit laying as frequently as before, just as yours have done, but since the numbers are greater, we don't notice it in the same way. With your very small flock, you really notice it when your production is cut by 50%, and then by 100% if both stop laying. This is cause for concern in a way that larger flocks do not consider worrisome.
You are looking for a pattern, and this will take a while. Good luck and let us know when things return to normal.

Thanks for your help.My hen is a backyard pet.She is very cuddly.She sits on the bench seat outside my kithen window.This place is hot...she has water, and shade but its still hot.I have tried to convince her to find a more suitable nest, but she keeps coming back. There is no box, just a seat.She seems to be getting down more often now though.She also keeps picking up leaves and tossing them on her back.How do you convince a chicken to go to a cool place?????If it were up to me. I'd like her to stay off my deck!!!Shes very sweet, but Im not sure about the brains department!!!Thanks again.Jill

You must know by now that we do not keep hens for their intelligence! God love them, they are what they are. It sounds like you have a little friend who likes to be spoiled, as many of them do.

The behavior you describe of picking up leaves (or pieces of straw) and putting them on her back is classic. They don't have to be broody to do this, but they will often do it when they are trying to camouflage themselves when sitting on eggs.

Hens are often hot when on the nest in our henhouse in the summer time. If your hen will not heed your suggestions to find a better place, try attracting her to one. Perhaps if you put a box with some straw in it where she likes to sit, she will adopt that box. Then you might move the box gradually to a more suitable place. Even if you have to leave the box there, you might be able to keep her cooler. You could also make a cage into which you could put her, the nesting box, and her food and water. Then you could put this in a suitably cool place for a week or two to allow her to develop a new routine and home base. When you are ready to let her out some, begin by letting her out just before roosting time, so she won't go far and then will go back into her new home. Gradually increase the time she is out before roosting time and watch her to see if she begins to resort to bad habits. If you put something on the bench which will discourage her from sitting there, that might help also.

If she has a hen house with a roost, you could put a nest box in there and fasten her in for a while (making sure she can keep cool, of course). When we moved our hens we had to let them roost on the old milking stanchions in the barn for a while, and they liked that. When the henhouse was done, I had to keep them
fastened in it for a few weeks to acclimatize them to the idea that it was their home. After that, I chased them out of the barn a few times, and had no more trouble with it.

Rabbit keepers sometimes use frozen plastic bottles of water as "air conditioners" in the hutches in hot weather. Rabbits will often lay down next to these to keep cool. I don't know if hens would do this or not, but it might keep the floor near them cooler as the ice melts.

I hope this helps.

There are so many reasons that affect the laying cycle, It can be as simple as the daylight hours not being enough (16 hours a day is best - no sudden darkness though) to a change in diet or upset in the flock (new additions) but they usually start up again fairly quickly... change in season is a biggie here though especially at this time of year.

I keep a really mixed flock (coz I like the different coloured eggs) from Andolusian, Minorcan, Light Sussex, Buff Orpingtons, Black Rock and Warrens. I recently found that one of my Minorcan hens was pecking and eating any eggs laid by other birds, clearly a territorial thing.

The main thing to be concerned about is the general health and well-being of your birds. Once that is established everything else falls into place - hens cannot stop laying for any long period of time!

Egg eating is NOT territorial behavior! It starts when a hen discovers that eggs are good to eat, and the others will discover this as well. It is simple feeding behavior--chickens LEARN what to eat, even if it is the wrong things. It is the flock keeper's job to avoid these vices of confinement.

I have 24 hens (white rocks, white leghorns, and golden comets) all are between 7 mos (comets) to 1 1/2 yrs. They have all of a sudden stopped laying. In the past 2 days, I've gotten 5 eggs. I'm feeding egg maker crumble with flax seed added for EFA's. What would make a hen stop laying? They don't appear to be sick and their stool seems fine. Any suggestions, Doc?

Lori--The days are getting shorter and if you would have your hens continue laying into winter you might add lights to extend their day to 14 hours of LIGHT. My hens also, have nearly stopped laying, but mine are largely hatching eggs and I am going on a holiday soon, so I am happy to have them rest. And when I return, I will start the lights and add an hour every few days until they are stimulated into laying again. I add the hours in the morning, so they do not have to go to bed in the dark! CJR

Thank you. I'll try adding a little extra light on them and see how they do. Should I add this light in the morning before the sunrise or in the evening? Lori

oops. Should have read to the very end. Sorry, I was in a hurry. Thanks CJR for the input. Lori

Hi, I'm calling from Rangoon in Burma. I have 24 hens (no roosters) which arrived with Santa in 1998 and began laying in August 1999. We have had no problems with them and they produce about 20 eggs a day most of the time. I have no idea of the breed except that they are a rust brown colour. The one thing I would like to know is how long can I expect them to lay? Just a ball park figure would be helpful. Cold weather and short days are not an issue and they are well sheltered during the wet monsoon season (May to November). In fact they laid very well through the last monsoon and have not missed a beat since the arrival of the cooler season.
Thanks
Doug

Hi, I'm calling from Rangoon in Burma. I have 24 hens (no roosters) which arrived with Santa in 1998 and began laying in August 1999. We have had no problems with them and they produce about 20 eggs a day most of the time. I have no idea of the breed except that they are a rust brown colour. The one thing I would like to know is how long can I expect them to lay? Just a ball park figure would be helpful. Cold weather and short days are not an issue and they are well sheltered during the wet monsoon season (May to November). In fact they laid very well through the last monsoon and have not missed a beat since the arrival of the cooler season.
Thanks
Doug

hi Doug,
It sounds like you have Rhode Island Reds. I have heard tell of hens laying until they were 9 or 10 yrs old I've had hens that were still laying pretty good at 5 yrs old. Of course I've heard that hens slow down after 2 yrs but I've found that someone forgot to tell my hens this, or i'm not doing to good at counting.I'm not really an expert but there are others on here who are as close as you can get and I'll bet that someone will be able to give you all the information you need.I'm only going on my own experience. I think a lot has to do with the care hens are provided.
Dorcey

Hi,
I'm new at taking care of hens , I'm doing what I hope is right. My hens stopped laying about 2 months ago which is normal, I think ,when the days become shorter right? So someone told me to give them artificial light to get them to keep laying , so I did this for a week now ,but still no eggs. Is there something I'm doing wrong or something more I can do.
Any information would be a help.

Someone told me that they will stop for the winter and then resume laying again in the spring. My birds went down to 5 eggs from 16 (18 hens) so I left a light on from 7 til 11 and they steadily made their way back to 11-13 eggs a day. Keep trying with the artificial lights but if you do it for a long time and still no luck, maybe they are just going to wait til spring.

I have two polish poof top hens that both quit laying almost 6 months ago. They both went through the usual molting cycle, and are fully feathered again. Any suggestions?