- Jun 12, 2010
- 23
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Hello. I have an ongoing problem that is frustrating me. I've had chickens for about 10 years, usually about 3-4 at a time.
About two years ago, my two youngish (about 2 years) hens stopped laying eggs. The other black chicken of the flock also slowed down production. I was very perplexed. I was giving them lay mash and plenty of room and sunlight. I thought it might be diet and added some mealy worms and oyster shells and then started letting them out to forage more in addition to regular feeding. Nothing helped. I went from 3 eggs a day to about 3 eggs a week. They didn't seem sick, except they would just stand and stare into space, all three of them for no reason whatsoever. It was actually really eerie--they went from healthy active chickens to weird zombie chickens. I knew something wasn't right, but again, they didn't seem sick otherwise.
After a *year* of this, the two chickens that stopped laying died, one at a time. They just were dead in the coop one day. I was actually kind of relieved because it was all so weird. So then I just had the one black chicken, so I got two new Rhode Island Red pullets. They matured and started laying, and things seemed back on track. The black chicken was very old so I gave her away and just had the Rhode Island Reds.
Well, now it's happening again. The Rhode Island Reds have slowed way way down on production and are just staring into space in that same zombie-chicken way. I don't know what this is! I do notice their shells on the eggs they produce are very thin, so maybe it's a mineral deficiency? Or a disease? They look healthy.
Any help/suggestions would be most welcomed.
About two years ago, my two youngish (about 2 years) hens stopped laying eggs. The other black chicken of the flock also slowed down production. I was very perplexed. I was giving them lay mash and plenty of room and sunlight. I thought it might be diet and added some mealy worms and oyster shells and then started letting them out to forage more in addition to regular feeding. Nothing helped. I went from 3 eggs a day to about 3 eggs a week. They didn't seem sick, except they would just stand and stare into space, all three of them for no reason whatsoever. It was actually really eerie--they went from healthy active chickens to weird zombie chickens. I knew something wasn't right, but again, they didn't seem sick otherwise.
After a *year* of this, the two chickens that stopped laying died, one at a time. They just were dead in the coop one day. I was actually kind of relieved because it was all so weird. So then I just had the one black chicken, so I got two new Rhode Island Red pullets. They matured and started laying, and things seemed back on track. The black chicken was very old so I gave her away and just had the Rhode Island Reds.
Well, now it's happening again. The Rhode Island Reds have slowed way way down on production and are just staring into space in that same zombie-chicken way. I don't know what this is! I do notice their shells on the eggs they produce are very thin, so maybe it's a mineral deficiency? Or a disease? They look healthy.
Any help/suggestions would be most welcomed.
