I have lost two hens in as many days. One looked sort of lethargic, the other showed no signs at all. Both were found dead in the morning but were fine when I closed up the coop at night.
Background:
Most, but not all of the hens are loosing feathers and it looks like there has been some fighting going on in the coop. Feathers everywhere. It is usually right between the wings and just above the tail feathers.The biggest hens have all of their feathers. The smaller younger ones have suffered the most.
Like an idiot, I brought in three new hens from a questionable source and didn't quarantine them first. This was after the feather loosing stuff started, but before any deaths. One of the new hens started eating oyster shell non-stop about three days after I brought her home. She ate oyster shell what seemed like most of one day. She was dead the next morning. The other two look ok.
The second hen to die was seemingly healthy and running around the yard just the evening before. When I brought out scratch in the late afternoon they were all very happy. That evening when I closed them up, everyone seemed happy as well. The next morning I found her dead and absent most of the feathers on her back. It almost looked like she had been pecked to death.
Egg production has been way off for several weeks (16 hens giving 4-5 eggs daily) and I have been grasping at straws trying to find out why. At least a week prior to the first death, I scrubbed down the whole coop top to bottom. I even sprayed a little bug spray into some of the cracks. I laid out brand new bedding of course. At the same time I brought in all fresh food and scratch. I even put some shiny trinkets in the coop hoping to give them something to play with.
They free range on a little more than an acre. I feed Purina feed and TSC scratch.
For all intents and purposes, these chickens are spoiled. I have only been raising chickens for about three years now, but have never had a death for any reason.
No swollen eyes, discharges or anything out of the ordinary that I can see. My rooster had a spot on his comb, but i treated it and it is getting better.
Background:
Most, but not all of the hens are loosing feathers and it looks like there has been some fighting going on in the coop. Feathers everywhere. It is usually right between the wings and just above the tail feathers.The biggest hens have all of their feathers. The smaller younger ones have suffered the most.
Like an idiot, I brought in three new hens from a questionable source and didn't quarantine them first. This was after the feather loosing stuff started, but before any deaths. One of the new hens started eating oyster shell non-stop about three days after I brought her home. She ate oyster shell what seemed like most of one day. She was dead the next morning. The other two look ok.
The second hen to die was seemingly healthy and running around the yard just the evening before. When I brought out scratch in the late afternoon they were all very happy. That evening when I closed them up, everyone seemed happy as well. The next morning I found her dead and absent most of the feathers on her back. It almost looked like she had been pecked to death.
Egg production has been way off for several weeks (16 hens giving 4-5 eggs daily) and I have been grasping at straws trying to find out why. At least a week prior to the first death, I scrubbed down the whole coop top to bottom. I even sprayed a little bug spray into some of the cracks. I laid out brand new bedding of course. At the same time I brought in all fresh food and scratch. I even put some shiny trinkets in the coop hoping to give them something to play with.
They free range on a little more than an acre. I feed Purina feed and TSC scratch.
For all intents and purposes, these chickens are spoiled. I have only been raising chickens for about three years now, but have never had a death for any reason.
No swollen eyes, discharges or anything out of the ordinary that I can see. My rooster had a spot on his comb, but i treated it and it is getting better.
