She's a white leghorn who will be 1 year old next week. Her comb is pale orange color and droopy. Her feathers are dull and dirty. There is no significant lack of energy and she seems to be eating normally. She started laying in November of last year and then stopped in early January. I thought it was because of the cold but she hasnt layed since. She has been like this since January and it is now June. I posted this a month ago on the egglaying board and someone suggested mites but I cant find any on her and wouldnt my other birds succumb to mites as well by now since it has been 6 months that she has been this way? If anyone could help me I would really appreciate it. I just hate having my birds not healthy.
First of all, and what may be wrong with your hen is maybe she has lice or mites? If you check through her feathers and look very closely, you may see them on the base of some of her feather shafts. She may also have worms...What do her droppings look like? Is she eggbound? When was the last time she laid an egg? If not in a while, I would search up "eggbound"...there's a lot of information about it on here. What have you been feeding her? What kind of environment does she live in? (bedding, coop, etc...) Good luck and I hope your hen gets better soon!
Thank you for your reply and your welcome! The last time she laid an egg was in mid january. Could she be eggbound for so long? She is in a 3 x 4 coop with 3 other chickens and a 6 X 8'6" run. She gets 3-6 hours per day free ranging and is fed organic laying feed and an occasional supplemental treats like cottage cheese and oatmeal. Her dropings look ok though its been hard to associate which droppings are hers - I have been looking at all the droppings to see if any have the signs of worms. Should I maybe give her a de-worming just in case? I dont like the sound of the chemicals that stuff. If it were mites wouldn't my other chickens have them as well? They are laying really well - each of them give me an egg a day. Thanks again for your reply
One thing I tried when my one hen stopped laying was cayenne pepper. I added a 1/4 tsp per cup of feed for about 10 days. I can't say for sure it was the cayenne pepper but it apparently also helps get rid of worms. Kepp us posted on how she is doing.