Good layers...no longer laying...very wet nesting boxes.

[BzMama]

My 6 hens stopped laying. Well, one lays every other day or so. This has gone on for two weeks at least. I thought they were going through a molt...a few look "moltish" on their backs and two around their vents. We are new to this (since January) and when my daughter told me earlier this week that they were 'peeing' in their nesting boxes, I thought "well, that's gross" but didn't give it another thought.

I finally researched today and um, apparently, chickens don't pee in the sense we think of. Okay, so what is this sopping mess? Nobody appears wet around their tail feathers...maybe they dried up between the time it happened and the time we checked them. They all seem to be eating from the feeder, pecking the ground, and drinking. None appear listless. The only weird thing is the loud clucking that one seems to have been doing lately while in the coop...I assume she's in the next box. At the same time the rooster paces and clucks (not crowing) loudly. I don't quite remember that happening before.

Still trying to figure out which hen(s) are excreting the liquid...but right now we don't know who and we don't know why. I've tried looking at their feathers...and don't see any bugs/mites/lice.

Any ideas? How do I tell if they are egg bound...and really, would they all be at the same time? It seems to be affecting 5 out of 6 my hens.

 

[BlazeJester]

I would recommend emptying the nesting material onto a tarp or large sheet of newspaper and looking for eggshell. One of my hens lays thin-shelled eggs that frequently break when another hen enters the nest box. I have found "wet spots" in the nest box and yolky residue on other eggs' shells before - they will absolutely eat a broken egg, sometimes shell and all. My rooster loves to run over to any leftover eggshell and excitedly tell the ladies what a treat he's found for them.

If your rooster is making a big fuss while someone's in the nesting box, I'm thinking he may have figured out how to make this "treat" and may be breaking the eggs to feed to your girls, or you may have another egg eater in the flock. Kids should be out for the summer soon - have someone watch chicken TV for a whole day and see if you can catch them in the act.

 

[CMV]

Someone is eating eggs. That's an unfortunate habit.

 

[Kyoht]

Someone is eating eggs. That's an unfortunate habit.

Agreed - there is an egg eater among them. Thats the wet stuff you are seeing.

 

[CarolJ]

watch chicken TV for a whole day and see if you can catch them in the act.

X2

 

[pips&peeps]

You need to check to see if there wet bedding under the roost to rule out diarrhea or cocci. You also need to rule out if they are roosting in the nest boxes.

 

[BzMama]

• Okay, everything under the roost looks clear. I know many of them roost, not sure if any migrate to the laying boxes at night. This is a slightly yellow tinted liquid. What's going on here? Do I need antibiotics. It's seriously, um, gross.

• My friend came over and we up-ended the hens and two have nasty vents...dripping a thick whitish mucousy goo.

• If they were eating eggs...wouldn't we at least see any shells? I can't even find a tiny piece. We have a fairly small coop - not many places to look. In the past, and only on occasion, did they peck open an egg and at those times there was plenty shell to find.
• Ha! This looks like a homeschool assignment...chicken TV it may have to be.

 

[BzMama]

Oh, also... since we don't free-range...I'm nervous about opening the egg collecting door (at the nesting boxes) while I have a hen in the coop. They have a tarp over their run...can I just lock them out of the coop all day so that we have a better chance of seeing what's happening?

 

[CMV]

They eat the whole egg- shells and all. The only remnant is some wet, yellow shavings.

Once they go to roost they don't leave until morning unless something disturbs them and/or they have a light on. Chickens can't see well at all in the dark.

The nasty vents could be vent gleet. I hope not for your sake because it can be tough to treat. Antibiotics won't help gleet and in fact can contribute to it. They will need to be treated with a systemic antifungal.

Chicken TV is how I pegged my egg eaters and feather pickers.

 

[BzMama]

After watching 3 hours of chicken tv, I learned...all chickens are acting/eating normally. Even more confused, so my hubby took me up to Southern States and I talked to someone there. Um, remember, we are fairly new to this...um, the laying hens are still on starter medicated feed. Why? Well, because the bag says for "layers and broilers". I didn't know that they were considered layers and broilers right from the beginning. Oh, and we've not been giving them grit or oyster shell. Bad chicken owners bad! The mess dripping from the vents was probably eggs without shell...their vents were fine today. I'm quite sheepish right now...and feel so bad! Hopefully we will see a nice turn around and our girls will forgive us.

One thing the lady at Southern States said is that we shouldn't have been eating the eggs they've been laying since March because they were on medicate feed. She said we needed to wait 8 weeks until we can eat their eggs again...?!?!? But I've seen a few threads on here that say amprolium (which is the active medication in our feed) does not cross into the eggs (and only a little if it does) and it shouldn't cause us problems unless we are allergic to antibiotics. Can we eat the eggs we got today? (I did find two...woo-hoo!!!)?