Hens unwell- please help

[HencrediblyEggcellent]

I have four hens. They are almost a year and half old. Over the summer, they have continued to lose weight and decreased egg production and energy. They are all very skinny now but still enjoy treats and free ranging.

I clean out their coop everyday and the urates of their poos have turned orangish to dark pinkish consistently for the past few weeks. When I see their poop in the grass and run though, the urates look white. I dewormed them in May with topical ivermectin. I use apple cider in their water and DE in their dust bath.

We had the 17 year locusts come out towards the end of may through June. It was so loud. I knew the chickens had to be stressed. That’s what I thought was the cause of initial weight loss. However, they did not gain after the cicadas left. Instead, they have continued to lose weight and decreased egg production. One of my hens is laying shell-less eggs. She’s not going into the nesting box to lay them. She lays them in the coop at night or in the morning. The other three are laying normal eggs but not as many as they used to per week.

I will try to post pics of poo. I don’t know if I need to try to deworm them again with an oral wormer. I’ve checked for mites and lice on them and have not seen any. Any helpful suggestions, thoughts, and/or experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

They could be approaching their first molt. Pictures of the hens would be good. Are they losing feathers or looking a bit ratty? What do you feed them? Do they have crushed oyster shell available in a separate container from food? Sometimes egg shells might get thin just before molting or if they are not getting enough calcium.

I have four hens. They are almost a year and half old. Over the summer, they have continued to lose weight and decreased egg production and energy. They are all very skinny now but still enjoy treats and free ranging.

I clean out their coop everyday and the urates of their poos have turned orangish to dark pinkish consistently for the past few weeks. When I see their poop in the grass and run though, the urates look white. I dewormed them in May with topical ivermectin. I use apple cider in their water and DE in their dust bath.

We had the 17 year locusts come out towards the end of may through June. It was so loud. I knew the chickens had to be stressed. That’s what I thought was the cause of initial weight loss. However, they did not gain after the cicadas left. Instead, they have continued to lose weight and decreased egg production. One of my hens is laying shell-less eggs. She’s not going into the nesting box to lay them. She lays them in the coop at night or in the morning. The other three are laying normal eggs but not as many as they used to per week.

I will try to post pics of poo. I don’t know if I need to try to deworm them again with an oral wormer. I’ve checked for mites and lice on them and have not seen any. Any helpful suggestions, thoughts, and/or experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Kiki]

What feed do you feed them?
What treats are you giving and how often are you giving them?

Pictures of them?

 

[HencrediblyEggcellent]

I feed them new country organics layer feed. No scratch. I give them daily treats. I’ll pick one or two of the following and give them a handful each. Treats usually consist of spinach, dried grubs, arugula, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, red winter berry wheat, or occasionally raisins. Like I said, I’ll pick one or two of those and do a handful of each. They have all day access to oyster shells and grit.
They don’t seem to be filling up their crops as much as they used to and their feathers look dull. I’ve been adding a drench and rooster booster supplements to their water/treats for the past few weeks in attempt to help get them back on track but that does not appear to be helping. I will try to post pics tomorrow morning. Thanks

 

[Kiki]

I feed them new country organics layer feed. No scratch. I give them daily treats. I’ll pick one or two of the following and give them a handful each. Treats usually consist of spinach, dried grubs, arugula, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, red winter berry wheat, or occasionally raisins. Like I said, I’ll pick one or two of those and do a handful of each. They have all day access to oyster shells and grit.
They don’t seem to be filling up their crops as much as they used to and their feathers look dull. I’ve been adding a drench and rooster booster supplements to their water/treats for the past few weeks in attempt to help get them back on track but that does not appear to be helping. I will try to post pics tomorrow morning. Thanks

Please stop feeding treats daily.
It's not good for them. Doing so takes away from them getting a balanced complete diet.

 

[HencrediblyEggcellent]

Please stop feeding treats daily.
It's not good for them. Doing so takes away from them getting a balanced complete diet.

Ok, thanks. Is there anything I should do to try to help them gain weight for the time being? They’re super skinny and I’m worried if I stop the treats, they’ll eat even less.

 

[Kiki]

Ok, thanks. Is there anything I should do to try to help them gain weight for the time being? They’re super skinny and I’m worried if I stop the treats, they’ll eat even less.

You could buy higher protein chicken feed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are they molting or starting to? Do you see feathers lying around inside the coop or run? My chickens do not eat as much or care about it while molting. They lie around more and are a bit standoffish.

 

[HencrediblyEggcellent]

Are they molting or starting to? Do you see feathers lying around inside the coop or run? My chickens do not eat as much or care about it while molting. They lie around more and are a bit standoffish.

There are some feathers around. However, I don’t think I can contribute the weight loss to molting because it started a couple months ago and they’re so skinny now. Another thing I forgot to mention is their combs will change from red to pink throughout the day.

 

[Eggcessive]

Molting hens will have paler combs, a sign of not laying. Make sure they are drinking enough, and chickens love watermelon.