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I'd lean in this direction. Being too fat can also lead to internal laying issues. I'd do a post mortem on your hens that died and see if they have excess fat deposits near the vent area...this I have seen in my processing of Buff Orpingtons that could not leave the feed alone.
They had scattered laying performance and often laid soft shelled eggs, weirdly shaped or oddly shelled eggs. Out of all the birds in my flock, they were the only ones that overate consistently. I just eliminated this breed from the flock and have had no more problems.
Since you have different breeds with the same problem, I would be looking at what is happening to all of them and not just breed characteristics.
I'd lean in this direction. Being too fat can also lead to internal laying issues. I'd do a post mortem on your hens that died and see if they have excess fat deposits near the vent area...this I have seen in my processing of Buff Orpingtons that could not leave the feed alone.
They had scattered laying performance and often laid soft shelled eggs, weirdly shaped or oddly shelled eggs. Out of all the birds in my flock, they were the only ones that overate consistently. I just eliminated this breed from the flock and have had no more problems.
Since you have different breeds with the same problem, I would be looking at what is happening to all of them and not just breed characteristics.
