My entire flock of hens are 2 years, 2 months old & I got them from MM
first is my alpha-hen Black Australorp Daphne-she hasn't laid in over a month, she was never a great layer. Most days she acts fine, bossing & bullying all the other girls, eating the most, singing the most & calling out alarms as needed. Her coloring is perfect, feathers & feet are perfect, eyes are bright, no external parasites, her breathing is perfect, no discharge from her nose or mouth. Today she has brown poop, practically liquid, no appetite at all, her crop feels totally empty. She is standing off by herself with her tail down or sleeping away from the other girls even while I'm serving eggs to them. There have been other days she seems like she doesn't feel good & then she'll be fine the next day. Yesterday we made a major change to the coop, including the location of the door & the addition of a new nest to accomodate or broody(her buddy)& the whole flock seems a little confused, could this be enough to make her seem ill?
What could be her problem?
Mimi my barred rock is a very large girl, also never one of my best layers. She hasn't squatted or laid in nearly a month, her comb is looking smaller but her coloring is good. I've examined her in everyway & she appears to be in perfect health.
What could be the cause of her complete hault in egg laying?
Olivia my red star lays an egg everyday no matter what, in the last few months her eggs have started to be wrinkly on the pointy end of the shell....is this an indicator of a reproductive problem starting? I know she'll "burn out" before my other girls but is there anything I should or could do about the wrinkles?
Genevieve the smaller one of my EEs, her eggs for the last few weeks maybe a month have lots of bumps of the outside of the shell, same color as the shell & her shells are very thin. Oyster shells are available free choice & the rest of the flock has strong shells. Is there a supplement I can give her to help with this? Is this a sign of a bigger problem?
So coincidentaly most of this seems to have started about a month ago, I have three other girls that are fine but do you think I'm having some sort of a problem that is causing these symptoms?
My girls have never been wormed, but I had their stool tested last summer & it came back clean.
Any answers or suggestions to some or all of my questions would be fantastic. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep my girls healthy.
first is my alpha-hen Black Australorp Daphne-she hasn't laid in over a month, she was never a great layer. Most days she acts fine, bossing & bullying all the other girls, eating the most, singing the most & calling out alarms as needed. Her coloring is perfect, feathers & feet are perfect, eyes are bright, no external parasites, her breathing is perfect, no discharge from her nose or mouth. Today she has brown poop, practically liquid, no appetite at all, her crop feels totally empty. She is standing off by herself with her tail down or sleeping away from the other girls even while I'm serving eggs to them. There have been other days she seems like she doesn't feel good & then she'll be fine the next day. Yesterday we made a major change to the coop, including the location of the door & the addition of a new nest to accomodate or broody(her buddy)& the whole flock seems a little confused, could this be enough to make her seem ill?
What could be her problem?
Mimi my barred rock is a very large girl, also never one of my best layers. She hasn't squatted or laid in nearly a month, her comb is looking smaller but her coloring is good. I've examined her in everyway & she appears to be in perfect health.
What could be the cause of her complete hault in egg laying?
Olivia my red star lays an egg everyday no matter what, in the last few months her eggs have started to be wrinkly on the pointy end of the shell....is this an indicator of a reproductive problem starting? I know she'll "burn out" before my other girls but is there anything I should or could do about the wrinkles?
Genevieve the smaller one of my EEs, her eggs for the last few weeks maybe a month have lots of bumps of the outside of the shell, same color as the shell & her shells are very thin. Oyster shells are available free choice & the rest of the flock has strong shells. Is there a supplement I can give her to help with this? Is this a sign of a bigger problem?
So coincidentaly most of this seems to have started about a month ago, I have three other girls that are fine but do you think I'm having some sort of a problem that is causing these symptoms?
My girls have never been wormed, but I had their stool tested last summer & it came back clean.
Any answers or suggestions to some or all of my questions would be fantastic. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep my girls healthy.
