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Because the ones who died were all, except one, hatchery girls, bred for egg production and nothing else, really. It's a genetic/hormone based malfunction. I suspect many more hens die from this than folks realize--not too many folks feel they can open up the hen and see what happened like we have. The hens that died were all the most common hatchery stock, the RIR, Barred Rock, Buff Orpington and Wyandotte. I still have several hens from that same hatchery, but they are not the usual types you get for egg production and seem to be okay so far. Two of them are now over 4 years old and still laying regularly.
Because the ones who died were all, except one, hatchery girls, bred for egg production and nothing else, really. It's a genetic/hormone based malfunction. I suspect many more hens die from this than folks realize--not too many folks feel they can open up the hen and see what happened like we have. The hens that died were all the most common hatchery stock, the RIR, Barred Rock, Buff Orpington and Wyandotte. I still have several hens from that same hatchery, but they are not the usual types you get for egg production and seem to be okay so far. Two of them are now over 4 years old and still laying regularly.