lilgertcharm
In the Brooder
- Jun 8, 2025
- 3
- 1
- 11
General blahs & egg laying almost nil at 3 years old?
5 Pet chickens excellent egg layers until recently (April of this year has started a steep decline)
Mixed flock (RIR, Barred rock & Columbian rock)
My first flock I got as chicks July 2022.
Am I doing something wrong or did they just get old & vulnerable this year?
Here are the details….
We live in northern Canada with some pretty cold winters however they have an insulated inside coop (panel heater with thermostat set to keep coop -15C). They also have a completely covered run that gets covered (roof) in clear plastic in the winter for wind & snow protection with ventilation at the top, as well as an outside run for sunny days year round.
Supplemental light 7am - 6pm during the very dark winter.
Coop & covered run were sand & scooped daily, so always dry & clean. Outside run is garden straw. They have lots of room for scratching, running, dust baths.
This was the first spring that their covered run got quite wet due to quick snow melt, so I kept them out of it while it dried out & I turned it over.
The feed supplier went out of business in April so I transitioned to a highly recommended local layer feed (layer crumbles to layer grains with pellets).
Since April I went from the normal 3-4 eggs a day (Betty has been a freeloader for over a year) to maybe two eggs a week for 4 girls.
At first I thought it was just that they didn’t like the new food but I gave it a couple weeks but they really seemed to slow down & get some mucky bottoms.
I thought maybe it’s coccidious so got some amprolium (sp?) & followed the treatment plan.
No improvement.
Although I didn’t see any evidence of mites, tic or parasites the runny poo made me think I should treat them for parasites, and after a week they seemed to improve a wee bit.
I emptied the coop & covered run of as much sand as I could, replaced with shavings, scrubbed everything with bleach solution & rinsed it all off. Also changed out all the garden straw in the open outside run. I regularly scoop out poop & feathers throughout the week in all spots.
Also…the eggs this spring were very blood spotty but have gotten a bit better quality wise.
But then my Peggy (Barred Rock) got water belly beginning of June. I treated her and she perked right up & was a happy snuggly girl until the morning she passed this week.
But my best layer (RIR), & sweetest girl (appropriately named Sweetums) has just gone down hill…no eggs for weeks, she started her first molt after the parasite treatment but is now fully feathered again, just low energy, comb is still red but definitely shrinking. I’ve had her inside for about a week at nights because she was sleeping in a nesting box. She has only had watery poops for days now, not eating very much or at all.
Madge (Columbian rock) was laying thin or shelless eggs earlier but seems to have just stopped.
Multiple waterers out, some with just fresh water, some with a poultry electrolyte & poultry probiotic added. Grit available. Oyster shell available. Crushed, dried egg shells sprinkled in feed on occasion. They didn’t like the poultry calcium vit d water additive.
Treats in the afternoon are garden greens or tomatoes or handful of dried bugs or sunflower seeds or scratch.
I wear a shop jacket & shoes that are just for when I go out to the girls.
3 lovely new girls (hatched in May) added to the flock this month & everyone seems to be getting along fine.
I was hoping to get more than 3 years of life out of them considering the breeds so am I missing something?
I appreciate your perspective as I feel like I’m letting my lovely fluffy butts down some how.
5 Pet chickens excellent egg layers until recently (April of this year has started a steep decline)
Mixed flock (RIR, Barred rock & Columbian rock)
My first flock I got as chicks July 2022.
Am I doing something wrong or did they just get old & vulnerable this year?
Here are the details….
We live in northern Canada with some pretty cold winters however they have an insulated inside coop (panel heater with thermostat set to keep coop -15C). They also have a completely covered run that gets covered (roof) in clear plastic in the winter for wind & snow protection with ventilation at the top, as well as an outside run for sunny days year round.
Supplemental light 7am - 6pm during the very dark winter.
Coop & covered run were sand & scooped daily, so always dry & clean. Outside run is garden straw. They have lots of room for scratching, running, dust baths.
This was the first spring that their covered run got quite wet due to quick snow melt, so I kept them out of it while it dried out & I turned it over.
The feed supplier went out of business in April so I transitioned to a highly recommended local layer feed (layer crumbles to layer grains with pellets).
Since April I went from the normal 3-4 eggs a day (Betty has been a freeloader for over a year) to maybe two eggs a week for 4 girls.
At first I thought it was just that they didn’t like the new food but I gave it a couple weeks but they really seemed to slow down & get some mucky bottoms.
I thought maybe it’s coccidious so got some amprolium (sp?) & followed the treatment plan.
No improvement.
Although I didn’t see any evidence of mites, tic or parasites the runny poo made me think I should treat them for parasites, and after a week they seemed to improve a wee bit.
I emptied the coop & covered run of as much sand as I could, replaced with shavings, scrubbed everything with bleach solution & rinsed it all off. Also changed out all the garden straw in the open outside run. I regularly scoop out poop & feathers throughout the week in all spots.
Also…the eggs this spring were very blood spotty but have gotten a bit better quality wise.
But then my Peggy (Barred Rock) got water belly beginning of June. I treated her and she perked right up & was a happy snuggly girl until the morning she passed this week.
But my best layer (RIR), & sweetest girl (appropriately named Sweetums) has just gone down hill…no eggs for weeks, she started her first molt after the parasite treatment but is now fully feathered again, just low energy, comb is still red but definitely shrinking. I’ve had her inside for about a week at nights because she was sleeping in a nesting box. She has only had watery poops for days now, not eating very much or at all.
Madge (Columbian rock) was laying thin or shelless eggs earlier but seems to have just stopped.
Multiple waterers out, some with just fresh water, some with a poultry electrolyte & poultry probiotic added. Grit available. Oyster shell available. Crushed, dried egg shells sprinkled in feed on occasion. They didn’t like the poultry calcium vit d water additive.
Treats in the afternoon are garden greens or tomatoes or handful of dried bugs or sunflower seeds or scratch.
I wear a shop jacket & shoes that are just for when I go out to the girls.
3 lovely new girls (hatched in May) added to the flock this month & everyone seems to be getting along fine.
I was hoping to get more than 3 years of life out of them considering the breeds so am I missing something?
I appreciate your perspective as I feel like I’m letting my lovely fluffy butts down some how.
