Anatomy question 🤔

[City Farmer Jim]

I am not as versed with chicken anatomy as I should or could and that being said here is my question. Will a hen lay an egg given all the light, food and water requirements have been met with no more stress than a normal day has to offer. We have a hen that is 3.5 years old and from what I can tell is not laying an egg. Tonight I collected her to give her a once over to be sure she is healthy. She had a full crop and when I returned her to the coop she promptly pooped so I am reasonably sure that her health is not an issue or at least as far as I can tell. A question that is also making me wonder...if an egg not produced where does the food in their crop go to...excrement? Thank you in advance for your words of wisdom and patience with a newbie chicken keeper. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL AT BYC.

 

[nuthatched]

Whats her breed? As long as she's young enough, she'll lay, usually. 3 is about 30-40 in people years, she may have hit henopause.

 

[Yardmom]

Have you had this hen for her whole life? Has she laid sometimes?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Assuming she was laying reliably before this, she could just be hitting the equivalent of menopause earlier than most. I have one hen that "retired" at around 3 or 4, and is now closing in on 7 years.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

an egg not produced where does the food in their crop go to...excrement?

I realize this is an older thread. But on the off chance the OP is still around .. or others may wonder about this (I thought it was a good question) ... I just felt like addressing this. Food in a chicken's crop goes to nourish the chicken and make all of its bodily functions work, not just the reproductive system (eggs). Just as in the human body, food makes the respiratory system work (breathing), the circulatory system (blood), the musculature, the skeletal, the immune, eyes, ears, brain, feathers, skin .... everything. What remains does come out as waste, or as you said, excrement. All of these systems have to function for the survival of the chicken, whether she lays eggs or not.