Leghorn not laying eggs for3 months

[MargieG]

My leghorn, which last year has been the most prolific of my flock, stopped laying eggs on the 20th of December 2024 and to this day has not laid one egg. She stopped when she started molting (a little later than all the others), started sleeping in the nesting boxes (she has never done that - I think she was cold during this hard winter) and I had to give her a bath a couple of times since due to poop being crusted up her butt and sprayed her vents with something recommended for the situation to calm inflammation and get rid of possible mites/fungus. Recently, finally stopped sleeping in the nesting boxes, she has been running around and being normal... but a couple of times I have seen her in the nesting box and found residue of yolk but no shell. She was gifted to me and added to the original flock a year and a half ago, she is the only leghorn so there is no doubt she is not laying. She looks healthy, act normal, eats and enjoys pecking around the property with the others. other than not laying, she is fine. What could this be? Is there anything I should do?

 

[TOMTE]

My leghorn, which last year has been the most prolific of my flock, stopped laying eggs on the 20th of December 2024 and to this day has not laid one egg. She stopped when she started molting (a little later than all the others), started sleeping in the nesting boxes (she has never done that - I think she was cold during this hard winter) and I had to give her a bath a couple of times since due to poop being crusted up her butt and sprayed her vents with something recommended for the situation to calm inflammation and get rid of possible mites/fungus. Recently, finally stopped sleeping in the nesting boxes, she has been running around and being normal... but a couple of times I have seen her in the nesting box and found residue of yolk but no shell. She was gifted to me and added to the original flock a year and a half ago, she is the only leghorn so there is no doubt she is not laying. She looks healthy, act normal, eats and enjoys pecking around the property with the others. other than not laying, she is fine. What could this be? Is there anything I should do?

What is their diet? Is it possible she's laying and then eating the eggs (or somebody else is eating them)?

 

[MargieG]

They all have been eating the same, for most of the fall/winter they had grower feed because I had few pullets in the flock, then in December I mixed grower and layer and now they are on organic no soy whole feed. On the side I give them oyster shells to peck if they want and give all of them table scraps and veggies/fruit waste if I have any. I recently gave them some Greek yogurt that they enjoyed very much.
I guess she could be eating her egg... but then I would find more often the residues, instead it maybe happened twice in the past month. Also, if so, wouldn't I find traces of eggshell?

 

[coach723]

Do you know how old she is? As they get older the shorter daylight hours in the winter will have more effect on their laying and they will take more time off laying then. I suspect, since she is acting normally, that she stopped laying during molt, which is very normal, and then the shorter days kept her not laying. As daylight hours lengthen, many of those birds will come back into lay again, unless they are old and may have stopped entirely. She may take the winter off every year, as days get shorter. The sleeping in the nest box can have many reasons, she may have had a difficult molt that was making her feel bad, or she may have been trying to stay away from the others. Sometimes molt is very hard on them, and sometimes those new feathers coming in are very sensitive and they will distance themselves from the flock as they are uncomfortable being touched.
When coming back into lay, just like when they are brand new layers as pullets, they can sometimes have glitches while their systems get it all worked out, so maybe that is what is going on with the yolk residue. If she seems ok otherwise, I would just keep an eye on her, make sure she continues to act normally, and wait for an egg.
The caution with whole grain feeds is that some birds will only pick out the parts they like and will leave the rest, which can lead to deficiencies. With a pellet or crumble they can't do that. Just something to consider.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You might try giving her a calcium tablet with vit D in it once a day for 5 to 7 days. Easiest way is at night after they roost, just pop it in her beak. Pill looks big but she can swallow it no problem.

 

[MargieG]

Do you know how old she is? As they get older the shorter daylight hours in the winter will have more effect on their laying and they will take more time off laying then. I suspect, since she is acting normally, that she stopped laying during molt, which is very normal, and then the shorter days kept her not laying. As daylight hours lengthen, many of those birds will come back into lay again, unless they are old and may have stopped entirely. She may take the winter off every year, as days get shorter. The sleeping in the nest box can have many reasons, she may have had a difficult molt that was making her feel bad, or she may have been trying to stay away from the others. Sometimes molt is very hard on them, and sometimes those new feathers coming in are very sensitive and they will distance themselves from the flock as they are uncomfortable being touched.
When coming back into lay, just like when they are brand new layers as pullets, they can sometimes have glitches while their systems get it all worked out, so maybe that is what is going on with the yolk residue. If she seems ok otherwise, I would just keep an eye on her, make sure she continues to act normally, and wait for an egg.
The caution with whole grain feeds is that some birds will only pick out the parts they like and will leave the rest, which can lead to deficiencies. With a pellet or crumble they can't do that. Just something to consider.

I believe she might be between 2 and 3 now, so not that old. This past molt indeed has been tough for her for sure and I have noticed she was avoiding the others. Hopefully it's just a glitch...but if she decided for early retirement, well good for her!!! They don't really care for crumbles... should I try to mix the two... I guess she could pick out of that too... just don't want to keep switching their food...

 

[MargieG]

You might try giving her a calcium tablet with vit D in it once a day for 5 to 7 days. Easiest way is at night after they roost, just pop it in her beak. Pill looks big but she can swallow it no problem.

Thank you, I will try

 

[BigBlueHen53]

so, wouldn't I find traces of eggshell?

Probably not. I told, in another thread, how I caught a couple of my hens eating egg "in the act." One of them had an entire half shell in her beak, by one edge, when I saw her, and before I could even react, she opened her beak big, like a snake, and the whole thing disappeared down her gullet like a magic act. If I hadn't seen it I never would have believed it. At the time I was getting one or two shell-less or soft-shell eggs a day, and I would find a wet spot in the sand of the poop trays along with, often, the leathery remains of the shell membrane. But I never found actual shell.