Hens were laying, but all have stopped!?!

[HennyRoo]

Thanks for that link, Ridge. It seems like it could be one of several factors that I already mentioned. The issue now is resolving the problem so they return to productivity.

I can resolve the rat issue but trapping the rats. I think they are already fine with the new roo, there doesn't seem to be any particular issues or fighting, no picking or anything like that, anyway. I can treat them for parasites easily enough and restrict their diet to just their layer mash/pellets, grit and oyster shell. I can also resume the lighting.

As for disease, how do I go about treating them for a possible disease? Anything I can give them to help support them if they have caught something? Avian/poultry vets are non-existant around here so other than getting some over-the-counter drench or something like that, there's not much I can do, is there?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Try talking to your county extension agent. Ours are very good about finding relevant information even if they themselves know little about the specific topic. Maybe they can tell you where to cheaply get the droppings tested. If you are near your state's land grant university, you may be in luck.

Unless you can identify a specific disease, I recommend you do not treat them. There are so many different possible diseases that you may not be treating them correctly and it stresses their system to treat them. It's possible when you brought in the new rooster, he brought something into the flock. As a possible example, there are 6 or 7 different strains of the protazoa that causes cocci. He may have brought in one of those strains they were not used to and they have not yet built up their immunity.

Thinking about it further, I would not be surprised that the change in light caused it. If so, it will probably be a while before they go back to laying. They may even go through an entire molt before they resume laying.

Good luck.

 

[JessaLynn]

DE would help with any internal bugs.Just mix it in there feed.

 

[msgenie516]

Mrs.Puff :

yeah, ridgerunner is right about the worms. They would have to have one heck of a worm problem to totally stop laying. I know my hens have some worms, but they're free range and just gonna get them, and I don't have any problems with no eggs.

I read that if the hens have worms, the worms could be inside the eggs! Yuck! Do you know if that's true?​

 

[Marion]

Quote:
Have a look at this.....

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1585788

 

[Mrs.Puff]

GROSS!!!! I read in Gail Damerow's book that they have to have worms REALLY BAD to get them in the eggs. My girls have some tapeworms. I've never seen the other ones.

 

[LynneP]

Those rats may also bite your hens, usually at the vent while on the roost. They be so stressed they are not resting or confident enough to linger in a nest box with predators in the coop ready to pounce. Those rats have to go, now, or you will lose hens.

 

[HennyRoo]

The trap has been out for 2 days now and no success. Any other ideas on ridding my coop of them without harming the hens or my other animals (cat, dog, horses)?

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Try moving the trap, and changing the bait. Also try putting the trap in a "tunnel". They like to run though holes against walls, so make sure the trap is in a kind of concealed, hidey-hole kind of place.

 

[Wynette]

I think it might be easiest if you handle one thing at a time...guessing at what might be wrong adn trying to resolve everything will drive you batty!

I'd first concentrate on the rats. And know that if you have SEEN one or two, there are plenty more. They first move in because food is easy pickin's for them. So, raise your feeders OFF THE GROUND. Just putting them onto a cinder block will not work. Make it difficult for the rats to get to it by hanging them with a chain IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. If you have posts in your run, hang them from one of those outdoor plant hanger things. Best option, if you have a tree that hangs over, use a chain & hang it from a branch. If the rats have to work hard to get the feed, they'll give up, as they are opportunistic feeders (not hunters).

Also, as far as working, I'm a big DE proponent, but it will NOT remove an average or large worm infestation. It will deter an infestation in a chicken that has no worm issues, but if you've got something more, then I'd go for the big guns and use Ivermectin Eprinex. It's a cattle wormer, and it covers all species of worms.

GOOD LUCK!!!