Tough summer

ty48fan

In the Brooder
May 28, 2016
17
0
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We got 5 chickens and a rooster in April. One chicken (2 year old) Would lay thin shelled eggs and stopped laying not too long after. She seems healthy and we didn't worry about it. About 2 months later another stopped laying (1 year old)... 3 months later another stopped (2 year old). Out of the 5 only 2 were laying getting 1-2 eggs daily. The 4th (1year old) is now molting and has been keeping to herself. She has laid 2 eggs without shells. So out of 5... only 1 is laying good solid eggs. We give them egg laying food, provide oyster shells and scratch. We are in central Texas and thought the Texas heat may be stressing them out and they survived a minor flood in sept. where the coop had several inches of water. They were moved to higher ground until the water went down. We were given 5 more chickens (6 months old now) in October. All 10 seem healthy except for the molting chicken. I keep telling my dad not to worry. We will see what spring will bring but we can't help but worry about the new ones. Is it stress? Illness? We just don't know.
 
We got 5 chickens and a rooster in April. One chicken (2 year old) Would lay thin shelled eggs and stopped laying not too long after. She seems healthy and we didn't worry about it. About 2 months later another stopped laying (1 year old)... 3 months later another stopped (2 year old). Out of the 5 only 2 were laying getting 1-2 eggs daily. The 4th (1year old) is now molting and has been keeping to herself. She has laid 2 eggs without shells. So out of 5... only 1 is laying good solid eggs. We give them egg laying food, provide oyster shells and scratch. We are in central Texas and thought the Texas heat may be stressing them out and they survived a minor flood in sept. where the coop had several inches of water. They were moved to higher ground until the water went down. We were given 5 more chickens (6 months old now) in October. All 10 seem healthy except for the molting chicken. I keep telling my dad not to worry. We will see what spring will bring but we can't help but worry about the new ones. Is it stress? Illness? We just don't know.
Stress, heat and age can cause them to stop laying. Also this time of year with shorter days (less daylight hours), production can decrease.

Make sure they have plenty of fresh water and feed available during waking hours. Check to make sure they have enough space in their coop and run. Provide some outdoor perches for them and something to keep them busy (pile of leaves, fresh veggies/fruit to pick at, weeds from the garden, etc.).

Since you had flooding, check inside your coop to make sure there is no mold/mildew, if there is, clean that up.

Depending on the breed, after 2years production can possibly slow down as well.
 
We we had to separate the molting chicken from the rest. She was getting stressed from the other girls pecking at her new feathers coming out. Poor thing.
One of the young girls (6 month old) surprised us yesterday! Not sure which of the 5 but one of them laid an egg! Then another today! They were smaller but we are excited! Egg on the right is from one of the young chickens
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We we had to separate the molting chicken from the rest. She was getting stressed from the other girls pecking at her new feathers coming out. Poor thing.
One of the young girls (6 month old) surprised us yesterday! Not sure which of the 5 but one of them laid an egg! Then another today! They were smaller but we are excited! Egg on the right is from one of the young chickens
1f60a.png


Congratulations on the first egg, it looks beautiful! Eggs will be small at first, then once your girl starts to lay regularly, they should slowly increase in size.
 
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Now fear starts to set in when I read more info on this site. Kind of like when you lookup symptoms on WebMD?!?!
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What are the odds that 3 of our original 5 are egg bound? Tums? Would it hurt to try it??
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Now fear starts to set in when I read more info on this site. Kind of like when you lookup symptoms on WebMD?!?!
ep.gif

What are the odds that 3 of our original 5 are egg bound? Tums? Would it hurt to try it??
That is a bit odd to have 3 egg bound at the same time. What symptoms are you seeing?
 
Got these girls in April of this year. All 1-2 years old. They have names but it's easier numbering them lol

#1 never really laid a good egg. The few she had were soft shelled. Stopped laying not long after we got her. She eats, drinks and poops fine. She's a beautiful chicken.
#2 just hasn't laid since June. She has beautiful feathers and is a beautiful hen. Again eats, drinks and poops fine.
#3 is the one we are really concerned about. She goes into the nest box and will sit there but doesn't lay. She kinda walks like a duck or penguin. She eats, drinks and poops fine. She doesn't drag her hind. She doesn't look sick.
#4 is molting... 2 eggs with no shells in the last 1 1/2 weeks. Before that she was laying one daily. Sometimes would miss one a week. She was getting stressed and picked on by the other chickens, so we removed her from the others for a couple of days. She looked a lot better today so we put her back in tonight after everyone went to sleep.
#5 is laying fine no problems *knock on wood*
The 5 new girls are now 6 months old. We have 2 out of those 5 laying! It's exciting! But we are trying to figure out what is going on so we don't repeat with the new girls. the first 5 are our first chickens and I'm sure we've made some mistakes. We are learning... I make my dad laugh by telling him he learned from making mistakes on his first kid... that's why I'm a great kid because I'm the 4th!
I'm trying so hard to figure this out.
 
I read that you can give a chicken a tums to give them a boost of calcium and a warm bath... Might help her pass the egg.
 
Got these girls in April of this year. All 1-2 years old. They have names but it's easier numbering them lol

#1 never really laid a good egg. The few she had were soft shelled. Stopped laying not long after we got her. She eats, drinks and poops fine. She's a beautiful chicken.
#2 just hasn't laid since June. She has beautiful feathers and is a beautiful hen. Again eats, drinks and poops fine.
#3 is the one we are really concerned about. She goes into the nest box and will sit there but doesn't lay. She kinda walks like a duck or penguin. She eats, drinks and poops fine. She doesn't drag her hind. She doesn't look sick.
#4 is molting... 2 eggs with no shells in the last 1 1/2 weeks. Before that she was laying one daily. Sometimes would miss one a week. She was getting stressed and picked on by the other chickens, so we removed her from the others for a couple of days. She looked a lot better today so we put her back in tonight after everyone went to sleep.
#5 is laying fine no problems *knock on wood*
The 5 new girls are now 6 months old. We have 2 out of those 5 laying! It's exciting! But we are trying to figure out what is going on so we don't repeat with the new girls. the first 5 are our first chickens and I'm sure we've made some mistakes. We are learning... I make my dad laugh by telling him he learned from making mistakes on his first kid... that's why I'm a great kid because I'm the 4th!
I'm trying so hard to figure this out.

Soak her in a warm bath with epsom salts. Gently feel inside her vent about 1" with a lubricated finger to see if you feel an egg. Give her some extra calcium like Tums, place her in a separate cage so you can monitor her.

Here's more detailed instructions:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms.html
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/06/egg-bound-hens-how-to-recognize-treat.html
 
Thank you for the amazing information! Definitely learned a few things. We caught her this morning and put her in the garage. I'm a little nervous about checking to see if she has an egg stuck. We will give the bath and tums a try. ill let you know if we have any luck! I think I might have located a vet that can see her if she doesn't get any better.
 

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