ready to hang in the towel

[DanLeaAnn7]

I am seriously wondering what in the world I am doing wrong....and i hope i am posting this question in the right spot.
1. I have twenty - 19 month old girl chickens, an even mix of red and black sex linked, Americana and barred rock. I am getting maybe ten eggs a day. They have a 12 by 12 coop with a 60 foot by 18 foot run. Several times a week i let them out of the run to free range the rest of the yard for about an hour at a time. I feed them Purina Layena crumbles and black oil sunflower seeds and oyster shell is available. For treats they get the melons, cucumbers and what ever the garden is over producing.
2. I have never wormed them, nor did I get them vaccinated, I use DE powder in their coop to control the bugs.
3. The chickens look hideous ! bald on rears and back and underside and it has been this way for months !
4. Egg production is way low and has been all summer, of the twenty chickens, we get maybe ten eggs a day tops.
5. Some of the eggs we do get have become very white/opaque looking, and are very thin, and odd looking usually with a crack in it. I have seen a red sex-linked lay an egg like this, they used to be brown.. I just don't get it !
6. Noticed weird spots on some of the combs (see picture)
What happened to my happy healthy girls ? Could someone advise us, thanks in advance, Lea

 

[leadwolf1]

I would check for mites and lice. Have you taken a sample in to see if they have worms?

 

[chicks are me]

is it somehow you forced the molt early,or, the DE powder is getting on them and irritating their skin, and they are pulling out their feathers trying to itch themselves

 

[bloonskiller911]

i don't know what is going on but i will be watching for answers. my grandpa's chickens look like this but we think it may be his geese pulling feathers. i also have one hen that looked like that but it was from a rooster cutting up her back and it getting infected!!! hope some one knows the answer!!!

 

[flowerchild59]

Those are some sad looking birds. I can't get my computer to enlarge the pic of the comb. I wonder if that is some sort of pox. You might want to take in the worst looking one to a state vet lab and see what you are dealing with and find out is it treatable or if something really contagious. Do a google on state vet labs or call your vet and they should be able to give you the number.
I am no expert but here are some things I would do.
First thing I would do is worm them with valbazen, 1/2 ml per adult bird orally, then repeat in 10 days. Parasites rob them of nutrients and make them sick and malnourished.
I would give them extra vitamins and probiotics.
I would give them extra protein. Maybe you could mix in a little more game bird feed or a higher protein feed.
I would treat them for lice by dusting them with sevin dust. There is alot of information on mites and lice here on this forum.
Clean out the coop really well and dust it for mites.
At 19 months they may be going on a moult and really cut down on egg production. Hatchery birds and sex links don't have a real long life span. Do you plan on replacing some of them any time soon (to be your gd producers next year).
I am sure others have some thoughts too.

 

[chicks are me]

maybe your chickens are board

 

[speckledhen]

The first BIG molt is between 18-20 months of age. They can't grow feathers AND lay eggs with low protein.

Purina is vegetarian feed, unfortunately. Give them some game bird grower feed mixed with their layer feed. Give them some animal protein, like eggs and canned salmon or mackerel, every couple of days. Do NOT give them a bunch of anything that will lower their protein intake right now and all the fruit you mentioned will do it.

The egg color loss is normal during a hard molt and hot weather as well.

 

[Aschenfire]

The comb issue looks to me like fowl pox.

 

[speckledhen]

Yeah, I missed that comb the first time I looked. That sure could be fowl pox, a virus caused by mosquito bites. It's not a super serious thing, runs through the flock and then they are immune to it afterward, NOT carriers as with many other diseases. You can put iodine on the spots or just let them dry out on their own.


Some folks who live in the south vaccinate for it since we have mosquitoes galore, especially near the coast.

 

[Aschenfire]

I should vaccinate mine. MY back yard is mosquito central. I live in TEXAS and it's hardly rained...I don't know where they come from...So far the only one who they've eaten up is me I think. :/