my 4 chickens have started shaking their heads

[earlhider]

I am anew chicken owner. I have 2 buff orphingtons, one RIR and 1 white RIR. All 4 hens have started shaking their heads. Sometimes they have the occassional itch. A couple of them seem to have dilated pupils. I have seen a few shed tail feathers. Altho' they were sold as laying hens, they have only laid 5 eggs in about 2 weeks. Should i be concerned? Do I need to consult a vet? Many thanks! Moona

 

[CMV]

You need to do a bug check on them because they may have some parasites. Head shaking has been indicative of mite problems for my flock in the past. Here's a link to a good bug page:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

Chickens will go off lay after a stressful event like moving. Hopefully they will start laying again within the month. If they have an infestation then they may not start laying again until the problem is resolved.

I hope you figure out what's going on. Good luck.