Yesterday I noticed my beautiful red just sitting by herself in the yard near the drinking water (drinking often). I was able to simply pick her up which is always impossible. I hand fed her some apple and she did eat it(with some coaxing). When I picked her up I found how skinny she was. Her plumage was still beautiful and she had no pasty butt. I'm not sure what her poops were like since they free-range part-time and have a huge run. I haven't seen or smelled any bad poops in the coop or run. I just went out a few minutes ago to grab her and bring her in for the special treatment. I brought her in, put her in the box and she died. I didn't notice any raspy-ness with her but I can hear it in a couple of my other hens. I wonder if I should treat the whole flock? There's 2 roos & 7 pullets, & 7 hens. Most seem absolutely fine (other than one in molt with raspy sound) but I'm worried something is going around and don't want to lose more. Also, I usually get about 6 eggs a day and now am down to 1. Living in NH, though, days are getting shorter & cooler, so I know eggs will slow down. I just didn't expect them to slow that much so suddenly. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
Hens go broody when you don’t want them to… and won’t go broody when you do.