Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Ok, i have a few questions. My leghorn hen is only from last springs hatch, and has not laid an egg for the past 2 months. We had a really hot summer, but she laid perfectly for the first part. I think she is molting now, or developing male pattern baldness. Is there a chance she might lay again after molt? I'd cull her, but she's hubby's "pet" so will be a yard ornament when no longer laying anyway. The tips of her comb has also turned purplish over the last few days. She's always had spurs, but they have been getting sharper/longer, is that a sign somethings not functioning right inside? She was wormed twice with ivermectin about a month ago, and has been dusted with sevin within the last month too. She acts normal, eats fine, gets in the nestbox everyday, just no egg. No problems before stopping laying either.

I'm not sure what's up with your hen. However, when one of my hens starts going into the nesting box and not laying an egg, I get concerned. Most of the hens that have done that here in the past have ended up with an egg broke inside them. I had this happen about a month and a half ago with one of my red sex links. As for the purple comb, my chickens normally get purple-y, blackish combs from lack of nutrition (often happens when the foraging opportunities are not as good). -All just IME

 

[Beekissed]

I wouldn't worry about her...time takes care of a lot of things. I'd stop dosing her and dousing her with chemicals, though....I wouldn't feel too good either if I had all that put into my system.

 

[JulieNKC]

I'm not sure what's up with your hen. However, when one of my hens starts going into the nesting box and not laying an egg, I get concerned. Most of the hens that have done that here in the past have ended up with an egg broke inside them. I had this happen about a month and a half ago with one of my red sex links. As for the purple comb, my chickens normally get purple-y, blackish combs from lack of nutrition (often happens when the foraging opportunities are not as good). -All just IME

I just noticed the comb, and when I looked at it later it looked fine. I'd just given everyone a bag of peas, she darts all around to get some so maybe it was from being tired? They are fed gamebird grower and scratch, have egg shells and oyster shell available. Treats, like peas 2-3 times a week, although the goose eats most of those anyway. They have an acre available to them, and there are 2 turkeys, 2 geese, half a dozen bantam ducks, 6 chickens and one rooster, so not overcrowded.

 

[JulieNKC]

I wouldn't worry about her...time takes care of a lot of things. I'd stop dosing her and dousing her with chemicals, though....I wouldn't feel too good either if I had all that put into my system.

I always worm them in the fall, once a year every year. I saw a little bug when I was collecting eggs so I went ahead and dusted. It was a month apart, I didn't think that was too much? Sevin stays on the skin, it's not ingested. And I have two toddlers who run around the yard barefoot and like to eat dirt. I'm worming my chickens, lol.

 

[ajlynco]

I have a 7 month old Black Star that started acting very lathargic about a week ago. She walks around slowly like she's drugged or something. Sometimes she roosts in the coop at night and sometimes she stays in the run. She makes her way to the feeder and waterer alright but has stopped laying. To be honest, I expected her to have died by now. The rest of the flock is just fine. She eats healthy and I've given the flock ACV with every watering throughout thier lives. Can anyone give me an idea what may be wrong with this poor chook?

 

[bruceh]

oh crap i went to put the birds away tonight. im sure glad we all discussed coop designs. with the rangers i had to hold over and make layers out of and the new layers coming it is getting over crowded. i will be utilizing the old double shed.

so i will be busy the next couple weeks.. money is a little tight so i am going the beekissed way..

 

[Michelelyl]

Hey, I was BORN in 1959

 

[bruceh]

black star problem. i raise them. great egg layers of brown eggs. when is the last time she laid an egg? she should lay around 4- 5 times a week at her age.
she is to young to molt. my first thought is egg bound. if she is egg bound that is a problem. it can be fixed. my second thought is parasites.

 

[Beekissed]

I always worm them in the fall, once a year every year. I saw a little bug when I was collecting eggs so I went ahead and dusted. It was a month apart, I didn't think that was too much? Sevin stays on the skin, it's not ingested. And I have two toddlers who run around the yard barefoot and like to eat dirt. I'm worming my chickens, lol.

Sevin is just like anything that is applied topically...it is absorbed internally. The skin is the biggest organ our body has and you would not believe how effective it is for absorbing things in our shampoos, lotions, bug sprays, etc. Whatever you would not like to eat in the eggs, I wouldn't place on their skin.

Better deworm the kids!

When I was little it was pretty accepted that everyone got worm medicine for pin worms each spring...and we did. Wonder where all those pin worms disappeared to from that time to this? You can safely figure that, if your animals have worms, the kids do too.

Ivermectin is just a pretty harsh thing to give, no matter what the vet may say. Think about it...this is something you can pour on the back of a cow that will absorb into their skin and into the blood stream and consequently kill the parasites in the bowel. Poisons them. What do you think it's doing to the animal? Not to mention that using these kinds of dewormers on a regular basis can promote worms that can survive the biggest, harshest dewormer out there. These are the survivors. They will bear offspring that are resistant to the Ivermectin. If they can survive the Ivermectin, they most certainly will survive the less harsh chemical dewormers. Where do we go from there?

Many people in the livestock world are finding this out, which is why they keep coming out with newer and worse poisons to poison the generation of parasites that survived the last bad poison. The people who are tired of this cycle are looking for ways to control parasites without creating the "super worm". Same concept as the overuse of antibiotics.

 

[galanie]

You are the first one to mention worming the kids! We got worm medicine and it didn't work so the old doctor my mother went to told her to use garlic juice, the stuff you used to get in the store in a little bottle. I tell you, I was raised on garlic juice. A spoonful every 6 months for me and my brothers.