Hello, raising laying hens, new to forums

Hello all you chicken lovers , I am new to Back Yard Chicken, however I have read from here for a long, long time. My husband, daughter and I have a small business venture we have started. BFKBackYardFarmEggs. We are hoping to sell healthy eggs to the public and already have a few orders lined up. We live in Lexington, SC. We have approximately 89+ young hens, White Leghorns, Welsummers, and others that I can't remember the name of now.

The girls have just started their first lay. We are getting small eggs now and they are so cute. I actually broke one the other night and it had two yokes in it, and it being so small it sure surprised me. I was raised in the mountains of North Carolina so I grew up used to chickens running around the place, however I was young and all I really knew was that they laid us our eggs, Mama or Granny would ring ones neck for Sunday dinner and I watched many a chicken boiled and plucked. My Easter Blue chick turned out to be a huge white rooster with still some blue feathers and he flogged the dickens out of me and Mama rung his neck.....there and then I realized that I would never kill a chicken if I ever had any.

Now, I am much older and wiser somewhat, I hope. However, I also have a pen with 9 older hens and a pen with Easter Eggers and Amauracanas. They have all been molting and their laying has cut way back. Some of the Easter Eggers are new and haven't laid their first egg yet.

One of my older hens has developed sour/impacted crow and I am at a quandary I have followed advice that I have received, and there is way too much. I have massaged her crop and can feel a mushy lump. I put her in a cage by herself and withheld water and food for 24 hours. I tried to vomit her and a little bit of the stinking liquid came out. That was 4 days ago. Since I have given her virgin olive oil with a dropper, had her plenty of water, etc. Now she has stopped drinking on her own and will not attempt to peck at grit or anything. I have fed her water with the dropper and she swallows it. I have also fed her plain yogurt and she swallows it. She is very lethargic and just lays in her pen. I am afraid she is going to die. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

I love my chickens and enjoy spending all the time with them I can.

 

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. I have a feeling I will be spending a bit of time on this site....with all the hens I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

Sorry to report that I lost Big Red to the sour/impacted crop this morning. She was at least 5 years old so it could have been something underlying also. I buried her and made a little stone for her. I have a specific area that is my little "graveyard" for animals past.

Thanks in advance for being my support system. Frankie