Should I worm? Chicken hasn't laid eggs in about 4 months

[riverpie]

My chicken has only laid eggs for about a year and then hasn't laid any since. She quit laying in the last part of summer when it was hot. She acts fine and has never molted. Has never laid on any eggs either. Shes half silkie and half cochan. I've never seen worms in the coop but I've never wormed her. Tractor Supply has something called Wazine. I use Diatomaceous Earth to control mites and bugs but I don't really see it working for internal worms. It's suppose to dry up bugs and it seems like it would dry up my chicken if I used enough to dry the worms out internally. I have tested it on bugs from my garden and mites in coop and it does work for killing bugs that way. What do you think the problem is for why she isn't laying eggs anymore? I've never wormed a chicken before. I also have a roo. He doesn't stay in the coop, should I worm him if I worm her? Hopefully it's just something I can put in water or food because I don't touch the chicken or roo. They do there own thing and the roo seems like he gets mad if I mess with his hen. He's never attacked me but he is protective of her.

 

[pigcoon]

I don't have answers for you yet but I have similar troubles with my 5 hens who quit laying in the summer at age 2. I have one that is now sick. I have another thread about it. Folks there (on that thread) are recommending apple cider vinegar to me as a wormer and for general maintenance. I am going to get some today. I may also try the Wazine. My sick one is on antibiotics and the vet said that she got sick because of "stress." Perhaps the worms are the stress? I'm not sure, nothing else I know of stressed her out. Anyway, he is also running a fecal sample to see, but I am going after the vinegar today.

 

[chickenbaguette]

Why don't you touch them? Take your chicken off her perch at night, so your roo won't bother you. You really should check your hen properly - there are lots of things you don't notice from a distance.

You should certainly worm them, and you don't have to touch them to do that. Both of them, of course, at the same time - if you worm one and the other has worms it will be passed straight back to the wormed one. Also clean the poo out of the pen at the same time, because worms live in it.
Diatomaceous earth can be bought in an edible form, but it's not really for worms.
I'd recommend Verm-X: http://www.verm-x.com/ You can get it in liquid form to add to the water or pellet form for the feed. What I do is make the pellets into a mash (with their food), and share it out between them. They taste nice, and one of my chickens really loves them. They are completely herbal and don't cause egg withdrawal, which is good for when your hen starts to lay again.

How do you keep your hen? In a small run? Do you just have her and the roo? Do they have access to feed, clean water and grit all the time?

These are the main symptoms of intestinal worms:
watery runny droppings
loss of appetite
ceasing of egg laying
dehydration
going off alone
loss of balance
dull comb, wattles and eyes

I hope this helps! Good luck

 

[chickenbaguette]

I forgot to say - also try giving her a tonic. Apple cider vinegar is apparently good, though I've never tried it. When mine are looking a bit down I make this with a few variations: http://critterfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2009/09/chicken-tonic.html The vitamin C and echinacea help the immune system and the garlic is antibacterial and antiviral. I add a few apples to mine, make it thicker and mix it with sunflower seeds so they can eat it rather than drink it - my chickens like it like that.
If you want to buy one, there are lots online too.

You can also give her some scrambled egg to help with protein (if she's in a small coop with no worms or anything). But just occasionally and make sure they're cooked or she might decide to eat her own eggs (they LOVE raw egg - not good to let them try it). Also give egg shells for calcium (but not if you already have shells in your grit).

Don't give her yogurt for probiotics, that's nonsense. It causes a load of other problems. Chickens were never meant to drink cow milk.

 

[riverpie]

Quote:
The hen doesn't let me grab her. If the roo wasn't around she possibly would. I've only held a chicken twice which was her in a have to situation. I have a blog I haven't used in a while that has a pic of her coop and also the perch that the roo gets on. They are under a carport type area. http://riverpie.wordpress.com/category/chickens/
There is a pic of her and him on there somewhere too. He watches out overhead for her. We can usually tell if a critter is out there at night because he will stand up on his perch.
They have had runny droppings off and on but it hasn't been a constant thing. I think it depends on what she eats. They eat scrap, bugs, scratch, etc. We let her out of the coop when we are here to keep an eye out for her. A large puppy came around this past summer and actually had her in it's mouth. The neighbor saved her. There are sometimes large dogs that will come around too. The roo can take care of himself and tries to help her but he can only do so much. It just seems odd that she isn't laying eggs anymore. If she got stressed from one of the dog attacks, it seems like she would be over it by now.

 

[chickenbaguette]

The hen doesn't let me grab her. If the roo wasn't around she possibly would.

Like I said, have you tried at night? And what do you mean by she doesn't let you? Runs away?

They have had runny droppings off and on but it hasn't been a constant thing.

Yes, their droppings change a lot depending on what they eat. If you can, you should also check how often she passes yellowish foamy droppings (when the caeca empties), which should be three to four times a day. That's a way of telling how her digestion is and how her insides are working generally.​

 

[chickenbaguette]

I pressed submit instead of preview there, sorry xD

Can you tell how much she's eating/drinking? Do they have a feeder?
And are there any sharp shards of anything around where they are? If she's eaten a sharp thing and it's got lodged in her gizzard it would definitely stop her laying - and she'll get thinner and thinner until she dies.

You might find this helpful: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/450/several-reasons-why-your-hens-may-stop-laying-eggs

Good luck!

 

[BamaSilkies]

Scratch should feed as a treat not as a complete meal. I would first worm with Wazine its a mild wormer for round worms. Then in 10 days worm with something a little stronger like Safeguard ( can be put in water also) or Valbazen. You worm with a mild wormer first so that the worms dont all turn loose all at once and cause a blockage. You can do a search on here for more info.

 

[riverpie]

Quote:
Thanks for the link. There is a possibility she could have eaten something sharp. Wouldn't she be in pain? She acts fine except for not laying any eggs so after reading on this site I thought maybe worms. I did change her scratch around that time. I found a smaller bag of it at the coop and with just two birds I wanted to buy in smaller bags to keep it fresher. We had to dump out half of our last bag during the hot humid time of year.

 

[BamaSilkies]

Are you only feeding scratch? No crumbles or layer pellets? Scratch is for a treat not a complete diet.