POL stopped laying?

C

Cab

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Hi all.

First post here, sorry its one begging for advice!

Picked up some new hens at Easter - had to lose one of our older hens at the same time, but since then they've settled in together nicely.

The older girl (and boss) is a speckledy, and she's a grand old lady who gently keeps the younger four (rhode rock, bluebell, white leghorn and goldline) in check. She lays often enough to earn her keep, but she's such a good top hen she'd can stay around as long as she keeps this up.

Three of the four new girls are laying well - the bluebell having the occasional day off, but we're getting 3-4 eggs a day.

I am worried about the leghorn though. She started laying with a single soft shelled egg, then we got four or five eggs (one softish, the others better), another soft shell... and then nothing. That was maybe six or seven weeks back now.

She has no outward symptoms of distress - no sign of mites, she's wormed, she was inoculated before we picked her up, she's getting on fine with the other girls, eating well, no lesions or cuts, no sneezing or dribbling, she's active and inquisitive (if maybe sometimes flighty - but heck, she's a leghorn). She comes to my hand for treats, she's making no untoward sounds of illness...

So I don't know whats the matter with her. By my reckoning she's 27 weeks old now.

Any advice would be appreciated. Our current plan is to keep an eye on her; phoned a couple of vets and they've suggested this is probably the best bet for her health. But I'm rather concerned that she started laying and then stopped. Will she start again? Why would she have such a long stop at such a long age?

Thanks for any advice,

Cab.
 
Has Lizzie the Leghorn confused you lot as much as she's confusing me then? :D

Never mind, thanks for reading and having a ponder though. Will keep checking back in case any thoughts occur to folk.
 
Hi Cab, and welcome to the Forum. Sorry your post didn't get answered, that's pretty unusual on here.
It's not unusual for POL pullets to lay one or two soft- shelled eggs at first, as you probably know, and usually they settle down into lay once they mature a bit and get the hang of it. A rather spasmodic lay is also fairly common at first, or even a break in laying after the first few eggs, before they get regular as they mature. But as you say, several softies, and no good ones, followed by a 6-7 week barren period, does give cause for concern, especially in a breed renowned for good laying capabilities.
I wonder if perhaps she has been affected by a virus or infectious bronchitis as a chick, either from her parents via the egg, or her environment as a chick, or as a consequence of a reaction to her vaccinations? She might have recovered from this to all outward appearances, and is obviously now healthy and happy and well looked after, but may still be suffering the consequences of IB in her egglaying, as this disease can affect the oviduct. Coincidentally, I found this link on another forum today, which explains quite a lot of the reasons for abnormal eggs and poor egglaying, and mentions IB and EDS (Egg Drop Syndrome) as possible complications. I don't know if this may be helpful, or whether anyone else has another idea, but its an interesting read.
http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/07E03A06.pdf
 
It is unusual but not not unheard of to start, then stop. It's possible she is laying soft shelled eggs and they are being eaten leaving no trace. You could try the finger test checking out the space between the bones just under the vent and also see if the area is tight or floppy. A couple of fingers space between the bones suggests she is laying. Tightness and little space between the bones will suggest that she is not laying. It is an individual rather than a flock problem obviously as the others are performing. No chance she could be laying away ? Let us know if you think she is laying.
 
My leghorns are suffering from a lack of sunlight, even though they have the brightest spot under the tree canopy. They seem to need far more than our other breeds. As a result they are all laying soft shelled eggs when we have long periods of cloud. Could that be an issue for you Cab?

Sorry, I was in windy England when you posted Cab.
 
Thanks for the kind replies :)

Marigold, thanks for the reading matter. Its odd, she does wander into the hen house with the others and shout a bit sometimes. Doesn't so much crouch as yell in sympathy with the other girls. I wonder whether she maybe did get a virus at some point in her development.

Chuck, I think it unlikely she's laying soft shelled - we don't find her crouching in the house, and when she did lay a couple of soft shells there were the wet patches in bedding around them. When she started laying the bone structure seemed fine - checking since then it appears to me she's tightening back up a bit (relative to the others). She remains flighty but happy to take grain from my hand during irregular inspections - once a fortnight or so. No chance she's laying outside the run because most days when we're out they don't have the run of the whole garden, just the extended run. We'd find the eggs in there - once in a while the speckledy (a most contrary bird in this regard - always has been) will lay an egg somewhere odd.

Chrismahon, thats an interesting observation! Can't put my finger on why but the idea that a white hen might need more light makes an intuitive sort of sense. They get sunlight in the morning and late afternoon, but not so much in the middle of the day (its not dark, just shady). The other girls are thriving and keeping us well supplied; do you also have other breeds that are laying, it it just your leghorns?

Thanks again for the responses! Much appreciated.
 
Hi Cab. the Wyandottes, Orpingtons and TNN's are all laying good eggs. The Brown Leghorn Bantams are thin shelled. Everything else is equal, although the Leghorns have the lightest spot. I think it may be due to their Pedigree. Originally Mediterranean with lots of sun available , so their vitamin D generation doesn't need to be so efficient. In England they had sun all day without any shell problems at all.
 
Thats very interesting Chris. I wonder, if I supply a vitamin D supplement whether that'll help her? I would have thought it unlikely to do much harm... Will ponder on that, ta!
 
Leghorns, and Whites in particular have been my speciality for years and I've never noted any such problems either indoors or out. They get no additives at all either.
 
Surprised me too Chuck, extensive searching online hadn't revealed this to be a known issue with leghorns, but its something I can test - Chrismahon may be on to something and I'd be remiss not to find out. I've got a vitamin supplement on order (called Zolcal D) and it should be easy enough to prepare some treats for Lizzie the Leghorn such that I can get extra vitamin D to her and not the others (the youngsters are giving me an egg a day each and old Bess is chipping in with 3 eggs a week or so, seems no point unsettling their diets in any way) - it'll do her no harm, and if she does start laying I'll let you know. Its a case study worth doing.

And if it doesn't work, well, it was worth a go.

Will keep you all posted! :)
 
We've got so many eggs here Cab I haven't bothered doing anything about it. Can't sell eggs here it is highly illegal and reporting English law breakers is a National Sport. In fact you can't sell anything without business registration (apart from your possessions) which is really complicated. The short cut route set up recently to make it easy to start is called "auto entrepreneur" which sees you paying 15% tax on your income. There is no allowance for expenditure or profit, so if you mark up 15% on costs as your selling price all profit goes in tax! No wonder the French economy is in a mess!

We had a Bluebell with the same issues Cab. She had very dark colouring and spent all her time in the coop. Getting her out more sorted the egg problems for a while, then Winter and short days brought the problem back.
 
Well, that didn't work. Nutritional supplements weren't the answer. She's still otherwise well.

Still not laying, that's clear from finger test.

Really now just wondering whether its worth trying the old trick of putting her in the dark for a day or so. Seems somehow cruel.
 
We still had one of our Leghorns doing soft shells Cab. Then one broke on the way out which gave problems. She is fine but doesn't lay at all now. I think she is past it at just three years. We have a Gold Laced Wyandotte that hasn't laid since she got here -perhaps she never has. But she is pretty and quiet. Our TNN's are going insane (constant squawking) and I think it is SADS, as neither coop gets any sun because it is much lower now but the trees are still in leaf.
 
I think I've decide that Lizzy is up for replacing soon. Its not that she's not a great little bird, but shes's getting ever more dominant. I can cope with her not laying, but I'm not having an unproductive bird giving the other girls a tough time. So as per other thread re. another hen suddenly having issues, if the other girl doesn't pull through it'll be time to say goodbye to Lizzie.

Anyone want a cantankerous, but essentially tame, unproductive leghorn?
 
Hope you don't work in sales, Cab... :-)10
Sounds as though Lizzie tikka masala might be on the menu? (Not that I've had the courage to do that myself, which is why I have 6 hens & still have to buy eggs...)
 
Icemaiden, I find it very hard to neck a hen I've lived with :( But I'm of the view that it SHOULD be hard. I don't think it should ever be easy to kill an animal you know well.

I'll do it when its the right thing to do though - and if she's both unproductive AND troublesome then it'll be time.

Ain't going to be a lot of meat on her though. Possibly better for soup than curry...
 
Lizzie is no more.

She wasn't laying, was never going to - and she was putting her natural exuberance into becoming top hen. And she wasn't showing signs of being a good top hen, she was a bully at the best of times!

So bye bye Lizzie. For the good of the flock, and because she was never going to manage to lay...
 
Best decision Cab. A bully hen will upset the rest and they won't lay either. We don't tolerate bullies either.
 
Cheers Chris. I doubt I'll ever be happy necking a bird, but when its time, its time.
 
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