The really short version: 2 of my 12 hens stopped eating and began molting. I can't find any signs of disease. Why did they stop eating?
The detailed version:
I recently butchered 2 of my hens because they were no longer laying and were beginning to molt. I haven't been checking crops at night (I have started now!) but I have been checking body condition once every other week for a couple months, and I believe this has been going on in the 2-4 week range (also, its been long enough that they began molting).
Both hens were 3 year old Barnevelder hens. Externally, they were acting normal, bright, and active. No signs of any disease, feathers around the vent were reasonably clean so I do not suspect diarrhea. In retrospect, I realize that these hens recently had been spent most of their time hiding under the trees in the run. They didn't come up for treats, they didn't come into the coop during the day to eat, etc. I had shrugged it off as breed differences, most of my hens are incredibly friendly Buckeyes, but my other 2 Barnevelders do come up (just not so close or often as the Buckeyes).
The only abnormalities at butchering (once I figured out what the shell gland was, HAH!) were completely empty crop (both hens). One hen had a gizzard packed full of fibrous grass & straw (I do offer grit, plus the run has rocks in it) and she had an excessive amount of clear, colorless to pale yellow, odorless abdominal fluid, and some abdominal fat. The other hen had grit and very little feed in her gizzard, and a fair bit of abdominal fat.
I have 2 feeders for 12 hens and a roo (well now its just 10 hens, because 2 were butchered and roo suffocated himself earlier this week). Coop is 10+ square feet per bird, the run is at least 3 times that size.
Any ideas why my hens would stop eating? Is there a disease I am not thinking about that could cause it? Or maybe I need to change my management? I am puzzled and don't really want to lose any more hens because of whatever this is.
The detailed version:
I recently butchered 2 of my hens because they were no longer laying and were beginning to molt. I haven't been checking crops at night (I have started now!) but I have been checking body condition once every other week for a couple months, and I believe this has been going on in the 2-4 week range (also, its been long enough that they began molting).
Both hens were 3 year old Barnevelder hens. Externally, they were acting normal, bright, and active. No signs of any disease, feathers around the vent were reasonably clean so I do not suspect diarrhea. In retrospect, I realize that these hens recently had been spent most of their time hiding under the trees in the run. They didn't come up for treats, they didn't come into the coop during the day to eat, etc. I had shrugged it off as breed differences, most of my hens are incredibly friendly Buckeyes, but my other 2 Barnevelders do come up (just not so close or often as the Buckeyes).
The only abnormalities at butchering (once I figured out what the shell gland was, HAH!) were completely empty crop (both hens). One hen had a gizzard packed full of fibrous grass & straw (I do offer grit, plus the run has rocks in it) and she had an excessive amount of clear, colorless to pale yellow, odorless abdominal fluid, and some abdominal fat. The other hen had grit and very little feed in her gizzard, and a fair bit of abdominal fat.
I have 2 feeders for 12 hens and a roo (well now its just 10 hens, because 2 were butchered and roo suffocated himself earlier this week). Coop is 10+ square feet per bird, the run is at least 3 times that size.
Any ideas why my hens would stop eating? Is there a disease I am not thinking about that could cause it? Or maybe I need to change my management? I am puzzled and don't really want to lose any more hens because of whatever this is.
