Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

About a week ago both our 2 Speckled Sussex stopped laying eggs. I thought maybe they were moulting. Last fall the 2 speckled sussex noticeably lost many feathers but I didn't noticed any of the other hens moulting so maybe they skipped a moult (is this possible?) or they only had a minor moult (is this possible?). Today I one disappeared and I found her way back in a corner where I can't reach her. I could remove the plywood where she is (maybe at night when she is asleep but what if a predator gets her?). This would involve removing some plywood nailed to the coop so she might find it quite disturbing? Another thing is I have never seen the rooster mate with either speckled sussex (I don't watch them all the time so they might be fertilized) Should we put her in the garage in a dog crate right now and candle at 7 days?

Thank you for your help!

update

so the hen left and we ripped the plywood out and there was no nest or eggs ...she was sitting there all day...and we still don't know whether the 2 speckled sussex are not laying eggs or laying them in some strange place...anyone know what is happening?

Scared of something?

two stray dogs showed up today...we put a fence up around our property...should keep most dogs off...we still need to put a gate in though... that must be it...

Be very careful with stray dogs. I lost 10 birds a few years ago to them. It's traumatic.

The speckled sussex both laid an egg today. Is this a coincidence or can they both time it so that they both start and stop on the same day? Is it possible that the were both taking a break from laying eggs? I can't tell if they were moulting. They don't seem to have lost any feathers. They stopped for about a month. Does anyone know what is going on?

Something scared them and once they felt safe again they started laying again.

Ok I may have messed up. I thought the small orpington egg was a sussex egg. I think neither are laying or they are laying at an unknown location. They normally lay eggs in the afternoon. Should I maybe lock all the chickens in the coop for one day to see if the sussex are laying eggs?

... or install a surveillance camera.

Mmmm have a camera on the chicks maybe need another for the sussex