Last week I had 6 hens and one rooster. Now I have 3 hens one of which is nearly dead this morning. I have no idea what's wrong? I was thinking a snake coming and biting them, but I'm starting to thing they're ill and I have no idea what it is or how to stop it. There's hardly any feathers pulled when I find them, always a few but nothing showing that they're being attacked. My chickens are just about a year old and they range within a big run that I move every few weeks.
Are you closing up your chickens in a secure coop from dusk till dawn? Raccoons, foxes, and many other animals are natural predators of chickens. How old are your chickens, and what symptoms are they showing? Is there diarrhea, crops that are full and hard, sleepy or lethargic chickens, hunched or puffed up posture, or anything else you can think of?
