- Jan 7, 2012
- 7
- 0
- 7
Here's the story: In late July/early August my family went out of town for about two weeks. Before we left we were getting about 8-10 eggs/day from 11 hens (ages 1-3 yrs). When we got back that had dropped to 3-4 eggs, and I figured that the person we had taking care of them had let them run out of water or something. I kept expecting their production to come back up, but it hasn't. It also happens that when we got back I started a big project on the house (new roof, new siding, small addition), and I was so busy and focused on that that I just didn't have time to try to figure out what's up with the chickens. Now, we're down to maybe 4 eggs a week, as their production has slowly dropped since August.
There are 5 Golden Sex-Links that hatched in early March and should be laying by now, but we have yet to get a single egg from any of them.
They have plenty of feed and water. I have a light on a timer in the coop so they're getting plenty of light. There's nowhere they could be hiding the eggs, and there's no sign of them eating them either. There are no obvious signs of illness/parasites. However, I'm far from an expert in chicken health, so I can't guarantee they're healthy. If they do have a disease or parasite, it's something without extreme symptoms.
Any ideas? Any disease symptoms I should look for?
If it doesn't change soon, I'm thinking I may just butcher them all and try again next year.
There are 5 Golden Sex-Links that hatched in early March and should be laying by now, but we have yet to get a single egg from any of them.
They have plenty of feed and water. I have a light on a timer in the coop so they're getting plenty of light. There's nowhere they could be hiding the eggs, and there's no sign of them eating them either. There are no obvious signs of illness/parasites. However, I'm far from an expert in chicken health, so I can't guarantee they're healthy. If they do have a disease or parasite, it's something without extreme symptoms.
Any ideas? Any disease symptoms I should look for?
If it doesn't change soon, I'm thinking I may just butcher them all and try again next year.