CrazyBeets
In the Brooder
- Apr 5, 2015
- 24
- 0
- 35
My blue laced Wyandotte died last night. I am a little sad about this, and I am wondering if there is something more that I could have done. We got her last March, from a woman’s breeding stock. Her legs were bleached, so I think that she may have been older, maybe between three and five years.
From the beginning, she never quite laid eggs right. She had problems with extremely thin shelled eggs, and no shelled eggs. She never laid consistently since we got her. The only time that she laid good eggs was when just after we dewormed her and the other chicken we had. She never showed any signs of being sick other than her eggs. The first time we did dewormed her was after I physically saw worms-they were really thin but they were about 2 inches long in her fecal matter. This was in maybe April, then we dewormed them again a few months ago.
These past couple days it had gotten really cold, down to -15° and she seemed a little more stubborn to get out of the coop than usual. I didn’t think a whole lot of it because she was a late riser and she always went to bed early. I am not sure what she has, but the other chicken that we have never showed any signs of anything and lays eggs consistently and very well. We found her last night in the chicken run and she had died but she didn’t look like she suffered a whole lot.
I am not sure if she ate much these past two days because she might have never left the coop, but I wasn’t sure if that was due to the weather or do to her stubbornness. They have been on laying crumbles this entire time, and have always had access to oyster shell. They have access to a compost pile where we throw kitchen scraps, and during the days we more often than not let them have free range of the backyard which includes my garden box that they have been turning over for me. We do give them scratch off and on, but we haven’t been giving them any scratch consistently except for the past couple months (I throw it in the garden box to entice them to dig) A few weeks ago I did grind up a large batch of eggshells and I mixed it in with their regular laying feed. It seems like she might have had some sort of calcium deficiency, but I don’t know because they always were on laying feed, and they always had access to oyster shell.
I don’t think she was egg bound, and I don’t think it was bronchitis. My only thought is she had some type of stubborn worm that I couldn’t kill with the dewormer, since she laid well for about a month after each treatment. I’m hoping that it was just old age and not my inability to diagnose and treat her. Thoughts?
From the beginning, she never quite laid eggs right. She had problems with extremely thin shelled eggs, and no shelled eggs. She never laid consistently since we got her. The only time that she laid good eggs was when just after we dewormed her and the other chicken we had. She never showed any signs of being sick other than her eggs. The first time we did dewormed her was after I physically saw worms-they were really thin but they were about 2 inches long in her fecal matter. This was in maybe April, then we dewormed them again a few months ago.
These past couple days it had gotten really cold, down to -15° and she seemed a little more stubborn to get out of the coop than usual. I didn’t think a whole lot of it because she was a late riser and she always went to bed early. I am not sure what she has, but the other chicken that we have never showed any signs of anything and lays eggs consistently and very well. We found her last night in the chicken run and she had died but she didn’t look like she suffered a whole lot.
I am not sure if she ate much these past two days because she might have never left the coop, but I wasn’t sure if that was due to the weather or do to her stubbornness. They have been on laying crumbles this entire time, and have always had access to oyster shell. They have access to a compost pile where we throw kitchen scraps, and during the days we more often than not let them have free range of the backyard which includes my garden box that they have been turning over for me. We do give them scratch off and on, but we haven’t been giving them any scratch consistently except for the past couple months (I throw it in the garden box to entice them to dig) A few weeks ago I did grind up a large batch of eggshells and I mixed it in with their regular laying feed. It seems like she might have had some sort of calcium deficiency, but I don’t know because they always were on laying feed, and they always had access to oyster shell.
I don’t think she was egg bound, and I don’t think it was bronchitis. My only thought is she had some type of stubborn worm that I couldn’t kill with the dewormer, since she laid well for about a month after each treatment. I’m hoping that it was just old age and not my inability to diagnose and treat her. Thoughts?
