2yo hen stopped laying eggs, overweight

[StFreed18]

Chicken friends, please help!

I have a small 3-hen flock (pecking order, top to bottom: polish, bantam frizzle cochin, salmon faverolle).

The salmon faverolle has laid 1 egg in all of May and she's 2 years old. She's overweight and has seemed more lazy lately. Her poops vary from perfectly firm and normal to really watery (but normal, not foamy or weird colored). She has no evident worms in her poop or external parasites.

Any ideas what could be wrong with her? And what does one do for an overweight chicken?

Question 3: She gets pecked at in the face by our bantam cochin and has a little bit of swelling on her bottom eye lids. Should I be concerned with this?

I feed my girls Purina Layena and give them ample fresh water, a daily assortment of egg shell, oyster shell, and grit. They have plenty of space in their run. I'm out of ideas on what to do but suspect something must be off with her.

 

[cavemanrich]

Your Salmon may be approaching a molt, so she may have stopped laying for that reason. Most chickens do take breaks from laying everyday/nonstop. Certain breeds like White Leghorns, are much more prolific layers than most breeds. Sexlinks are also in the high output category.
What is your location, since it is not in your profile. If you are in the southern hemisphere, like Australia or similar, you would be approaching winter, and that is another time hens slow down. Shorter daylight time .
Your hen should not be overweight by the described feed you give. Only time hens do go overweight,,,, is when they are fed too many treats. Their protein percentage is diluted to insufficient percentage,,, to produce proper amount of eggs.
Don't be too concerned about that small peck she sustained. It will heal totally, shortly.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[aart]

Why do you think she's 'overweight'?
Maybe because her crop is rather large?

 

[StFreed18]

I'm in California so the molting shouldn't happen until fall. Her breed is supposed to be decent egg layers.

Good question on the overweight bit. Now I feel like I've been body shaming her, since I weighed her today and she's 6.4 lb (internet says her breed can reach 6.5 lb for mature hen). She's just big boned. Her face looks a little swollen and I associated her (occasional) watery poos with her being overweight since when I took her to the vet for consistent watery poos in the past, he indicated her diet/weight were contributing factors.

Sidenote: During that vet visit, we took in our Polish also since she was holding her foot up a lot when she was standing still (and consequently getting bumblefoot on her other foot) and he indicated that this is a symptom that our chickens have Mareks... they were all vaccinated as chicks but he said the vaccine isn't 100% effective since it's like vaccinating for the flu, which evolves - that's another story.​

Just wanted to check in with this virtual community on her to see if any red flags pop up for anyone for her symptoms or if anyone had similiar experiences that they could speak to.

Thank you!

 

[aart]

I think the vet may be off here.....is he an avian vet who is well versed in poultry?
It could be Mareks, but can't know for sure until after death.
The one leg standing is interesting, does she always stand like that?
I suppose it could contribute to creating, or exacerbating, bumblefoot(staph infection in a wound).
Was the bumblefoot successfully treated?

It's hard to say why she's not laying, could be a plethora of things.
Is it really hot where you are?
She might be drinking more because of heat, and it goes right thru them thus the loose poops....heat and subsequent water 'usage' can definitely effect laying.
Being low hen in a small flock can be very stressful.

When I have a bird that is acting 'off' (not eating/drinking/moving around well),
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.