Sudden Drop in Egg Production

[mrbstephens]

Well? I need more info. What should I look for if I'm looking for worms???

 

[chick-in-florida]

sorry for the delay. we found worms in the poop eventually but not many. they just stopped eating as much and the poops weren't as healthy looking. i certainly wouldn't wait until you see a lot of worms before worming them. If you haven't done it, get wazine right now and put it in their water. it's simple. then follow up with fenbendazole a week later. the worms can kill the chickens with barely any outward signs and it is a simple thing to take care of. all farm animals need worming, there's no way around it in my opinion.

 

[mrbstephens]

Quote:
Should I just assume they have worms? The poop looks totally normal. They're acting totally normal. It has been unseasonably cold. I'd rather not medicate if I can help it. I try to keep them as organic as possible. Maybe I should wait a couple of days just to see if it goes back to normal?

 

[chick-in-florida]

sure you can wait and see of course. but please read up on the worming threads. dawg53 is very knowledgable and helpful in that regard. and like i said, worming is not something you can ignore. do you want organic chickens or dead chickens? i don't mean to be so blunt but...

 

[mrbstephens]

Guess they were just cranky. Got 7 out of 10 today.

 

[KimberlyJ]

Even though your egg production was up today keep an eye out for a reason for the drop. Rats stealing them? A snake? Crows? A few days ago someone posted about a crow stealing eggs! I would think an egg eating chicken would leave a trace of something behind, but a predator may not. Look around for tufts of fur, tracks or poop. Man, I would want to know what caused it! And I'm with you, I wouldn't want to worm if I didn't have to. Good luck

 

[mrbstephens]

Quote:
Yeah, I looked around. The coop is predator proof so can't be an egg thief. I really think it was just the change in weather.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Worms, molting, lice, change in light levels, old age. Or snakes eating the eggs.