We have lost two hens in the last week and don't know why. The only noticeable symptom was one of the hens was very lethargic for a couple of days before she died. The other showed no symptoms. Should we be concerned about the safety of the eggs from the remaining flock? We sell eggs to other teachers at our school should we stop selling eggs? The hens are in a coop and chicken run until around 3 or 4 then they are released to free range. We have only had the flock since May and have not wormed them. The hens are a mix of Americauna, Barred Rock, Buff Orps, and a white hen. One of the dead hens was a barred rock the other was an Americauna they both were to be about 1.5yrs old when we purchased them. They are fed a layer crumble and hen scratch as well as fresh produce scraps from our garden. They have been eating a lot of grasshoppers lately because they have been especially bad this year. Bedding is a combination of wood shavings and straw.
We are fairly new to having chickens and we want to do the right thing.
How often should we clean the coop, the nest boxes, and such. We have about 50 birds. I have had birds in the past but it has been 20+ years ago and I never had these types of problems. Also we think they have mites. Does DE do a good job on the mites?
We are worried about the eggs and selling them to our friends. We dont want to just throw them out but wont want to take any risk either.
Thank you,
Todd
We are fairly new to having chickens and we want to do the right thing.
How often should we clean the coop, the nest boxes, and such. We have about 50 birds. I have had birds in the past but it has been 20+ years ago and I never had these types of problems. Also we think they have mites. Does DE do a good job on the mites?
We are worried about the eggs and selling them to our friends. We dont want to just throw them out but wont want to take any risk either.
Thank you,
Todd