Recent content by Chrugger

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    Meat for chickens; yes or no??

    This might be too much of a nuance, but I would argue that chickens are actually opportunistic carnivores or insectivores, and are fine eating grains or pellet feed if that's what we give them, but always prefer bugs and other small protein sources. In general chicken farming, we just need to...
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    New hens sleeping in nesting boxes instead of roosting bars

    I will definitely try that! Thanks!
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    New hens sleeping in nesting boxes instead of roosting bars

    I know others have asked similar questions, but they all seem to be in the context of younger hens. We added 4 new hens (about 2yrs old, ISA Browns) to our flock of 14 hens about 2 months ago. They are healthy and laying really well, but don't seem interested in sleeping on roosting bars, only...
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Just wanted to post an update to anyone that was following the convo since I thought this was so bizarre. Last week we got a cold front with rain and the auto door to my coop froze open and a raccoon got in and got 3 of my chickens. The day after, one of my chickens that hasn't laid in probably...
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Seems like 1 out of the 3 may have an impacted crop. I separated her from the rest and gave her some olive oil and attempted to massage her crop some yesterday. Didn't seem to make much of a difference today, but I'll try to keep it up for a few days. It's pretty hard though, so not sure it'll work.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Hard to tell since they mostly drop out in the run, but I will start paying closer attention in the coop. I've tried checking their crops but have a hard time telling what's normal. They feel the same as our younger hens, one of them being slightly softer/mushier.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Yea I've considered worms or mites, although like I said, other than the one we lost earlier this year, they've all been happy and active. I would assume worms would eventually bog them down a bit.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Yes, crushed grit as well. Although we're not great about refilling regularly enough, but I would assume they get some amount of grit/pebbles from the amount of free ranging they do.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Not particularly fluffy. The elders that are not laying are 2 easter eggers and 1 RI Red. They laid great all last summer and continued every couple days through the winter as well.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    39th parallel (near Wash DC). Mine stopped laying beginning of the summer, basically peak laying season.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Right, not expecting all to lay every day, but since we’ve had the older ones for over 2 years now, we definitely know which eggs are theirs and they definitely haven’t laid any in months. We’re averaging 5 per day, but they’re only from the younger hens.
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    It's possible, but they often go a number of days only in their coop/run without being let out, so I doubt it. We feed them layer pellets (16% kind from Tractor Supply or Southern States) and a handful of scratch grain and/or mealworms every day. We also leave out a container of crushed oyster...
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    Why have my 2yr old hens stopped laying?

    Can someone help me figure out why only my 2 year old hens stopped laying? I have 3 hens (2 years old) that completely stopped laying about 4-6 months ago. I also have 9 younger hens (8 months) that are all laying just fine. 12 hens total, none acting weird/lethargic, healthy looking comb...
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