BerryRegalia
Hatching
- Oct 10, 2025
- 1
- 0
- 2
Hi all, new chicken owner!
We have a flock of 10, 2 laying hens and 8 that are around 20 weeks old. One of the laying hens, Lucy, has suddenly stopped laying eggs but still sits in the nesting box everyday, sometimes going back multiple times but its been about 4 days since she's laid, but otherwise seems normal. We have had about 3 masses in the coop though that look like yolk without an egg shell. Around the time Lucy stopped laying one of the younger chickens, Oreo, has started going and sitting in the nesting box but not laying anything so we're not sure who the yolk is from. However, unlike Lucy, today Oreo has started acting lethargic and standing around by herself. She will wander with the others but then just stand looking around blankly or lay down and fall asleep. Her comb and waddle are bright red, her crop and abdomen feel the same as the others. Her tail feathers are a little droopy but her vent seems clean. I did notice her last droppings had some green but from what I've found from my searching that could just be from her not eating as much? She'll be fine for a bit, scratching and eating a little, and then suddenly she'll just become lethargic again.
More information if it helps; We add some apple cider vinegar to their water every time we change it. We have thin oyster shells available but it's hard to tell if any of them eat them. Last week we started letting them out of the run to free range most of the day, the last 3 days we've waited till closer to noon to let them out to give them a chance to lay eggs. We have layer feed and grower feed in separate feeders but all of the chickens seem to prefer the grower crumble, even the laying hens refuse to touch the layer crumble most of the time.
We don't have a way to isolate her at the moment unfortunately, I plan to put one together this weekend. We also don't have a vet anywhere close that takes chickens so if I can treat whatever is wrong myself that would be preferable.
Thank you in advance!
We have a flock of 10, 2 laying hens and 8 that are around 20 weeks old. One of the laying hens, Lucy, has suddenly stopped laying eggs but still sits in the nesting box everyday, sometimes going back multiple times but its been about 4 days since she's laid, but otherwise seems normal. We have had about 3 masses in the coop though that look like yolk without an egg shell. Around the time Lucy stopped laying one of the younger chickens, Oreo, has started going and sitting in the nesting box but not laying anything so we're not sure who the yolk is from. However, unlike Lucy, today Oreo has started acting lethargic and standing around by herself. She will wander with the others but then just stand looking around blankly or lay down and fall asleep. Her comb and waddle are bright red, her crop and abdomen feel the same as the others. Her tail feathers are a little droopy but her vent seems clean. I did notice her last droppings had some green but from what I've found from my searching that could just be from her not eating as much? She'll be fine for a bit, scratching and eating a little, and then suddenly she'll just become lethargic again.
More information if it helps; We add some apple cider vinegar to their water every time we change it. We have thin oyster shells available but it's hard to tell if any of them eat them. Last week we started letting them out of the run to free range most of the day, the last 3 days we've waited till closer to noon to let them out to give them a chance to lay eggs. We have layer feed and grower feed in separate feeders but all of the chickens seem to prefer the grower crumble, even the laying hens refuse to touch the layer crumble most of the time.
We don't have a way to isolate her at the moment unfortunately, I plan to put one together this weekend. We also don't have a vet anywhere close that takes chickens so if I can treat whatever is wrong myself that would be preferable.
Thank you in advance!
