1 year old Golden Comet not laying

[kh6234]

Hi! I have 5 year old hens and 1 of them hasn’t laid since the end of may. We had an easter egger hen go broody around that time and the broody hen has since started laying again but I know it’s one of my golden comets that isn’t laying because of the egg color. I noticed one of the golden comets stopped laying around this time. They are all acting fine just one isn’t laying. What could be causing this?

 

[Mrs. K]

Old age. 5 year old birds are certainly older, and will lay considerably less than they did in the beginning. Just like some women go through an early menopause, and some go much later in life, so do chickens.

Their period of laying each year shortens, and the period of molt and non-laying gets longer and longer. I would be surprised if she every lays again, but she might occasionally lay an egg.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Old age. 5 year old birds are certainly older, and will lay considerably less than they did in the beginning.

Especially a high production breed like Golden Comets.

 

[kh6234]

Sorry should have made it clearer in the post, I have 5 (1) year old hens, 3 are golden comets and 2 are easter eggers

 

[kh6234]

Just realized my wording made it seem like they are 5 years old they are all 1 year old.

 

[Mrs. K]

Oh, well that makes quite a difference in a way, I mean, she should be laying. There really is not a lot you can do about laying. Every living thing that reproduces, varies quite a lot on how successful they are at it.

But you should check these things:

AArt - says to do a butt check. Look on here for pictures and technique. A laying hen has a wider spread between the pelvic bones. Then you know for sure if she is laying or not. The vent looks different between laying and non laying.

If she is laying - look for a hidden nest, or test the rest of your birds to see if someone else is not laying. Are you expecting the same count of eggs each day? Cause birds do skip a day every so often. I would not expect comet hens to skip too often.

Then you have to make a decision, do I keep her or not. In small flocks, sometimes it is important to have laying hens, sometimes it is not.

But truthfully, laying is a biological act, and there really is not much you can do, it is like how tall someone gets. As long as one has good food, water and shelter - that tends to produce good egg production, but if she is not laying with that, there really is nothing to add to make her lay.

Mrs K