- Jun 17, 2014
- 27
- 6
- 74
We have a small farm and have kept chickens for a few years. We have a large enclosed coop (we call it the aviary) that houses about 40 hens. They are different ages and breeds. The youngest are about 16 months and the oldest about three years. The coop itself is about 48x24 feet and also has the chicken house enclosed within it which is about 10x16 feet. The hens are able to go under the chicken house when it's hot outside. There are 14 nesting boxes and a few areas where they have made nests and plenty of roosting space. We keep three - 5 gallon watering containers and two long trestles for feeding (along with throwing food out in the yard since the trestles do get crowded). We feed regular feed from the store (that I occasionally ferment) and a few handfuls of scratch to keep them busy while we refill waterers and collect eggs. They also receive occasionally fruit/veggie scraps.
For the past two weeks, our egg collections have yielded less than ten eggs a day. Typically, we collect between 2 - 3 dozen on any given day. Yesterday, we found a dead hen in the yard. Today, my husband told me that he noticed one chicken that was being pecked that he felt would probably die. He separated the hen out (the chicken house has a small corner where we can place sick or new birds) and plans to check on her later today. I noticed a few other hens are missing feathers on their backs and necks. (There are no roosters in the pen). Nothing has changed in this pen.
We have another small pen behind the farmhouse that has a dozen or so bantams. Not all of them are egg-laying age, but we were collecting about 4 eggs a day. One of the bantams died about two weeks ago. We are collecting one egg a day from that pen. There are 1 (possibly 2) roosters in that pen. Ages in that pen are a little over a year old to some that are only a month or so.
We also keep five ducks. They are Golden 300's. They have laid five eggs a day, consistently for over a year. They haven't laid eggs in two weeks (but I think they are molting as they look a bit patchy and there are small white feathers everywhere).
Any idea on what could be causing these issues? We live in Alabama and typically egg production is high this time of year. The past couple of weeks have been our hottest, but we have worked hard to provide plenty of water and there is shade in the yards.
Edited to add - one of my concerns is whether the eggs are safe to eat? We've been eating and selling - but I want to make sure that nothing is going on that can be transferred to humans.
For the past two weeks, our egg collections have yielded less than ten eggs a day. Typically, we collect between 2 - 3 dozen on any given day. Yesterday, we found a dead hen in the yard. Today, my husband told me that he noticed one chicken that was being pecked that he felt would probably die. He separated the hen out (the chicken house has a small corner where we can place sick or new birds) and plans to check on her later today. I noticed a few other hens are missing feathers on their backs and necks. (There are no roosters in the pen). Nothing has changed in this pen.
We have another small pen behind the farmhouse that has a dozen or so bantams. Not all of them are egg-laying age, but we were collecting about 4 eggs a day. One of the bantams died about two weeks ago. We are collecting one egg a day from that pen. There are 1 (possibly 2) roosters in that pen. Ages in that pen are a little over a year old to some that are only a month or so.
We also keep five ducks. They are Golden 300's. They have laid five eggs a day, consistently for over a year. They haven't laid eggs in two weeks (but I think they are molting as they look a bit patchy and there are small white feathers everywhere).
Any idea on what could be causing these issues? We live in Alabama and typically egg production is high this time of year. The past couple of weeks have been our hottest, but we have worked hard to provide plenty of water and there is shade in the yards.
Edited to add - one of my concerns is whether the eggs are safe to eat? We've been eating and selling - but I want to make sure that nothing is going on that can be transferred to humans.
