Chicken that won't lay?

[kokotg]

I have a Cuckoo Maran who hatched in early March. She took FOREVER to start laying at all, then finally layed 2 or 3 eggs. Then she took a break for at least a month. Then she layed maybe half a dozen or so more eggs, at the rate of 2 or 3 a week. Then she stopped again. I'm pretty sure it's been a month since she layed an egg. What's her problem? Is there anything to be done about it, or is she just soup fodder? I'm not really going to eat her; my 4 year old named her, so we're pretty much stuck with her, and it'd be awfully nice if she'd lay an egg every once in awhile! Any ideas?

[fairfarmhand]

are you feeding layer ration? Does she have plenty of food and water at all times? Is there plenty of bedding in the nest box?

 

Hens sometimes slow down in the winter quite a bit. If you want to put a light out there and make sure she has 12-14 hours of light a day it might help.

 

Sometimes hens get in the nasty habit of eating their eggs. This starts when they lay an egg and it gets cracked. They find that the insides are tasty and the shell isn't bad either. So they begin eating their eggs out of habit. I dont think there is a way to cure this either.

[kokotg]

are you feeding layer ration? Does she have plenty of food and water at all times? Is there plenty of bedding in the nest box?

 

Hens sometimes slow down in the winter quite a bit. If you want to put a light out there and make sure she has 12-14 hours of light a day it might help.

 

Sometimes hens get in the nasty habit of eating their eggs. This starts when they lay an egg and it gets cracked. They find that the insides are tasty and the shell isn't bad either. So they begin eating their eggs out of habit. I dont think there is a way to cure this either.

 

thanks for the suggestions! she has plenty of food and water and bedding (and three nesting boxes to choose from, if she doesn't like one of them). I have nine hens all together, and the others are laying fine (well, some of the older ones are moulting, but they WERE laying fine). I would blame it on less daylight, except that she was never really laying well to start with. Maybe that is it, though...maybe she's going to take the winter off and then start back up with her lay an egg every once in a while pattern in the spring. sigh.

 

Maran are notorious for being lousy layers. I have three hens and probably only get an egg a week from the three of them--I can tell whose laying as the color is nice and dark--when we get eggs... I won't be buying any more Maran.

 

Really? I wish I'd heard that before I got her (although it might not have deterred me; I was intent on dark brown eggs. We got her and a Welsummer...she doesn't lay, and the Welsummer was so mean to the kids we had to sell her, so maybe I'm just not meant to have dark brown eggs). If only she had a fun personality or something to make up for it. But she's pretty unexceptional all around.