Hello all,
Our flock of 13 hens and 1 rooster has been doing fine for months. Recently, however, egg production has dropped from 10-13 eggs per day to 7-9 eggs per day. Partially because one of our hens has gone broody, but still, it’s a noticeable drop.
I’ve been noticing several of the hens are looking a little rough, with bare patches on their backs, base of the wings, and throat/neck. I could attribute it to the rooster, he’s pretty aggressive towards people, but always has been fine with the hens. But I wouldn’t put it past him. The bald spots are most consistently located on the throat area.
This afternoon we were changing the water and found a dead chicken laying in the run, an Easter egger. She was towards the bottom of the pecking order I think. She looked physically ok, aside from being henpecked. I didn’t notice any really odd behavior before. One of the pics of the chickens with the bare necks is the same bird a couple days before.
We had a mystery death in our flock many months ago, soon after introducing the young birds into the coop, but never figured out what it was, and everybody else was fine.
Finally, I noticed a plant growing through the side of the run that backs up against the neighbor’s property. Looks like bittersweet nightshade. I believe this is somewhat toxic, but hearing mixed things on whether or not it would kill a chicken. Wondering if this is a possibility?
Could all/some of these factors be connected? What should my next steps be for the flock and is there anything I should look for? (Also, do the one bird’s feet look normal to y’all? They looked “bumpy” to me).
Sorry for the long post! I know it’s kind of everywhere!
Our flock of 13 hens and 1 rooster has been doing fine for months. Recently, however, egg production has dropped from 10-13 eggs per day to 7-9 eggs per day. Partially because one of our hens has gone broody, but still, it’s a noticeable drop.
I’ve been noticing several of the hens are looking a little rough, with bare patches on their backs, base of the wings, and throat/neck. I could attribute it to the rooster, he’s pretty aggressive towards people, but always has been fine with the hens. But I wouldn’t put it past him. The bald spots are most consistently located on the throat area.
This afternoon we were changing the water and found a dead chicken laying in the run, an Easter egger. She was towards the bottom of the pecking order I think. She looked physically ok, aside from being henpecked. I didn’t notice any really odd behavior before. One of the pics of the chickens with the bare necks is the same bird a couple days before.
We had a mystery death in our flock many months ago, soon after introducing the young birds into the coop, but never figured out what it was, and everybody else was fine.
Finally, I noticed a plant growing through the side of the run that backs up against the neighbor’s property. Looks like bittersweet nightshade. I believe this is somewhat toxic, but hearing mixed things on whether or not it would kill a chicken. Wondering if this is a possibility?
Could all/some of these factors be connected? What should my next steps be for the flock and is there anything I should look for? (Also, do the one bird’s feet look normal to y’all? They looked “bumpy” to me).
Sorry for the long post! I know it’s kind of everywhere!
