Non Laying Chicken

[Crickleymal]

We've just taken delivery of a couple of chickens from a friend who's unable to look after them any more. They join our other 3 chooks and replace one which has died at the age of 6 years!

However the friend reports to me that one of them hasn't laid an egg for 6 months or more. He's had a firkle to see of there was a stuck egg but apparently there isn't. Both birds appear well fed and healthy although the non laying one is moulting. Any ideas please?

[Odsox]

Well the moulting one will not be laying eggs anyway until she gets a complete new set of feathers.
But I must ask, how does your friend know that this particular one hasn't laid for 6 months, have they been kept separate or is he just surmising that one egg per day must mean only one hen is laying ?

[Crickleymal]

Good question. I just asked him and they lay different coloured eggs. The one that isn't laying and is moulting has only just started moulting so it isn't just the moult that's stopping lay.

[darkbrowneggs]

How old are they? And what colour are their combs?

[Crickleymal]

About 2 years old. One has a dark red comb the other also dark red but much smaller. It also appears that the laying one of the pair has been plucking the feathers of the non laying bird.

[darkbrowneggs]

Sometimes when they start that it is a hard habit to break And it can become a "learnt" habit, so best to try and stop it before the other hens pick up on it. Especially at this time of year when they are growing their new feathers which are tasty and full of blood.

You can get "spectacle type" things to stop the offender. Not sure how comfy they are as I have never needed to use them on my birds, but its better than a damaged bird I would think

The stress caused by being continually plucked would probably put her off lay anyway.

[Crickleymal]

We've had some success with some tar like substance (my wife administers it so I don't know the name) which obviously tastes so foul (pun intended) that it puts them off.

[red]

assuming you have thought of the obvious health things like worms etc

hens do often stop laying come summer - the peak is Easter - predictably!

you can't make a non laying hen lay - other than taking away any problems - such as worms and mites etc. if she is still not much of a layer - well then it is a matter of whether you regard her as a pet or not...