Why do hens stop producing eggs for weeks on end?
This question is actually almost backward.
How did we transform a bird that lays 18 eggs annually into one that lays an egg every day for a year is the real mystery. The chicken is a superb example of selective breeding at its finest!
The cost to the chicken of laying eggs is high biologically, which explains why they cease. Extremely pricey. So expensive that she cannot maintain it continuously for the rest of her life, especially on days when she is also engaging in other biologically costly activities like fending off illness or moulting and regrowing her feathers.
A good layer hen can lay eggs almost every day for up to a year if treated properly. She will then require a break so that she may moult and grow new feathers, top off her calcium reserves, etc.
In the natural world, her laying is prompted by longer days, which signify that it is spring and time to start a family. Likewise, domestic birds can be kept in lay or their rest periods can be managed in great part by regulating their exposure to light.
Expect laying to decrease or perhaps cease if you have a small flock of indoor chickens and do not provide artificial light in the fall and winter.
If your hen has been continuously "in lay" for a long period of time without ceasing, then
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