Chicks Aren't Growing, Chickens Stopped Laying

[kdtcameron]

All is not well in chicken heaven and I'm at a loss for what's going on. Our batch of 5-1/2 week old chicks isn't getting any bigger? The chick I hatched from the incubator 3 weeks ago is now the same size as they are. They had been progressing normally up until 3 weeks ago when they suddenly seemed sick and 2 died. I treated them for coccidia with a 5 day course of corid water and now they all appear perfectly healthy...just they haven't gotten bigger or added any more feathering. We also started feeding an 18% non-gmo starter, so I'm wondering if this had something to do with it too. We're feeding the same brand layer to our laying hens and all 15 stopped laying last week. However, I should note that we are raising a batch of meat birds on the starter/grower and they're progressing nicely as well as the lone hatchling mentioned above. As far as the layers, I also understand that it's been hot, but we have only gotten 2 eggs in the past 7 days. We're making a number of changes to improve our poultry set up, (rotating on pasture, divided out the flock and added a new roo) which may have thrown them off too, so it's hard for me to diagnose what's going on. How do I get my chicks to grow and my layers to start laying again? TIA!

 

[aart]

Could be that the cocci damaged the chicks intestines, interfering with nutrition uptake, at least temporarily....they may catch up given time.

If your layers free range they may be laying out in their range area, but the stress from the changes could definitely be a factor along with the heat.

Layer feed is usually a bare minimum on protein, if they are eating other things it may be diluting the protein levels. If water ran out during hot weather, even for a half a day, it can greatly affect laying.