Following up on my post from last spring: turns out my original three hens were not RIR, but "red sex linked," or so I was told by the person I got the NHRs from. The older girls are a much lighter, washed out red, and smaller. As it turned out, even though they are "plain Janes" in comparison, they were also much more prolific layers! in future, as much as I like the idea of a classic breed, I'd be tempted to go for the prolific "mutts" again.
Now I'm afraid there's something wrong with all 6 of the girls. This has been going on for several months now: The original girls will be 4 next spring, but even though I"d expect them to lay less now due to their age, they've totally stopped. Combs are pale, too. I'm getting one egg a day, generally skipping a day in between layings, and i know it's from one or maybe two of the NHRs. One or two of the NHRs are losing feathers, but they're not a year old yet so I presume it's too early to molt? Also, the feed level in the feeders and the level in the waterers are not going down nearly as fast as they should be. The only stressor I can think of is that there's a stubborn chipmunk (I think) that climbs through some opening in the old shed roof (my coop), through the wall of the roosting room, and out into the front room. Could that scrabbling noise passing through really be enough to cause all this in my 6 girls? Or is there some disease going on?
BTW, last spring I made the run area in front of the coop as wild bird-proof as I could. I still sometimes see a few juncos or sparrows in there, but mostly not. So, I'm thinking the chances of their catching something (illness or parasites) from wild birds is pretty limited.
