Flock_party
In the Brooder
- Jul 9, 2020
- 27
- 8
- 26
Hello!
I've been having some issues w/my laying hens. They are almost two years old -- will be in May. I have lost two hens so far in the past month. The first one occurred while we were out of town for a weekend, so I didn't get to see the "buildup." All I know is that the day we got home, our (barnyard mix from Hoover's Hatchery) hen was puffed up and lethargic, not eating, etc. That night, she wouldn't roost w/the others, instead choosing to remain on the floor. I found her dead on the floor of the coop the next morning. This was in February. We chalked it off to a one-off thing; I wish we had necropsied her.
About two weeks ago, a barred rock from a local feed store (obtained at the same time, so same age) started behaving the same way. I noticed that she had parts of a soft egg hanging from her vent, so I jumped into treating it like an obstruction: soaked her, massaged, kept her in the dark, etc. She spent a week in the "hospital ward" before she seemed well enough to re-integrate. She has been doing OK since, but I'm not certain that she has ever laid again. She also was lethargic, but never to the same degree. She stayed chatty and fairly alert and active the whole time. Passed some white mucus from her vent for a few days, her abdomen has remained firm-ish since.
Two days ago, a white leghorn (our most productive layer) caught my eye in the coop. She has some mild prolapse and was getting some picking (so there was a little blood). I brought her inside, tucked the prolapse back inside, sprayed her w/some Vetericyn and kept her in the dark. She proceeded to take a steep decline yesterday. Despite being in the dark, she laid two soft eggs in the cage, one was just a skin, the other appeared to be a thin-skinned water balloon (with yolk). I noticed when picking her up to examine her vent, she would leak a clear fluid (very watery). Her abdomen remained soft. She went into the same lethargic, puffed up, not eating, eyes closed mode yesterday and died overnight. I found her this morning.
My question is: is this typical behavior for 2yr old chickens? They live in a tractor that moves around so there isn't too much of an issue w/parasites. They were wormed last summer when I noticed some actual roundworms in their stools. There was increased stress last fall/this winter as we started a second flock that was within about 20 feet, so they had visual contact w/a much larger flock (with roosters). We just integrated our two flocks together last week, but the issues began before the integration -- so the only one that could've been induced by the stress of integration is the leghorn. All our birds seem to have quirks. One of our other birds from Meyer (a leghorn mix) never fully recovered after her molt last year. Looks to have some yellowing on her face and her feathers never grew in as thick or lush....she looks scrawny. She's been this way since early last fall. Are these poor genetics? We bought a "production pack" from Hoover's Hatchery, so we did just get a random mix of things -- none of which seem true to any one breed. Could this be infectious? If it is, it is spreading relatively slowly, but causing a steep decline...and it's affecting their reproductive systems.
My biggest concern is spreading something around. My husband thinks that this could be a combination of poor genetics and having high production hens -- that this may just be the natural course for production birds. Two years of laying an egg every day does seem stressful. They have laid for three seasons (technically), because they laid through the entire first winter into summer with no slowdown. If it makes a difference, I have noticed that I get a soft egg about once a week or so -- which seems pretty often, but it's been that way since they started laying. I do provide layer pellets & oyster shell.
Anyone have any ideas?
I've been having some issues w/my laying hens. They are almost two years old -- will be in May. I have lost two hens so far in the past month. The first one occurred while we were out of town for a weekend, so I didn't get to see the "buildup." All I know is that the day we got home, our (barnyard mix from Hoover's Hatchery) hen was puffed up and lethargic, not eating, etc. That night, she wouldn't roost w/the others, instead choosing to remain on the floor. I found her dead on the floor of the coop the next morning. This was in February. We chalked it off to a one-off thing; I wish we had necropsied her.
About two weeks ago, a barred rock from a local feed store (obtained at the same time, so same age) started behaving the same way. I noticed that she had parts of a soft egg hanging from her vent, so I jumped into treating it like an obstruction: soaked her, massaged, kept her in the dark, etc. She spent a week in the "hospital ward" before she seemed well enough to re-integrate. She has been doing OK since, but I'm not certain that she has ever laid again. She also was lethargic, but never to the same degree. She stayed chatty and fairly alert and active the whole time. Passed some white mucus from her vent for a few days, her abdomen has remained firm-ish since.
Two days ago, a white leghorn (our most productive layer) caught my eye in the coop. She has some mild prolapse and was getting some picking (so there was a little blood). I brought her inside, tucked the prolapse back inside, sprayed her w/some Vetericyn and kept her in the dark. She proceeded to take a steep decline yesterday. Despite being in the dark, she laid two soft eggs in the cage, one was just a skin, the other appeared to be a thin-skinned water balloon (with yolk). I noticed when picking her up to examine her vent, she would leak a clear fluid (very watery). Her abdomen remained soft. She went into the same lethargic, puffed up, not eating, eyes closed mode yesterday and died overnight. I found her this morning.
My question is: is this typical behavior for 2yr old chickens? They live in a tractor that moves around so there isn't too much of an issue w/parasites. They were wormed last summer when I noticed some actual roundworms in their stools. There was increased stress last fall/this winter as we started a second flock that was within about 20 feet, so they had visual contact w/a much larger flock (with roosters). We just integrated our two flocks together last week, but the issues began before the integration -- so the only one that could've been induced by the stress of integration is the leghorn. All our birds seem to have quirks. One of our other birds from Meyer (a leghorn mix) never fully recovered after her molt last year. Looks to have some yellowing on her face and her feathers never grew in as thick or lush....she looks scrawny. She's been this way since early last fall. Are these poor genetics? We bought a "production pack" from Hoover's Hatchery, so we did just get a random mix of things -- none of which seem true to any one breed. Could this be infectious? If it is, it is spreading relatively slowly, but causing a steep decline...and it's affecting their reproductive systems.
My biggest concern is spreading something around. My husband thinks that this could be a combination of poor genetics and having high production hens -- that this may just be the natural course for production birds. Two years of laying an egg every day does seem stressful. They have laid for three seasons (technically), because they laid through the entire first winter into summer with no slowdown. If it makes a difference, I have noticed that I get a soft egg about once a week or so -- which seems pretty often, but it's been that way since they started laying. I do provide layer pellets & oyster shell.
Anyone have any ideas?
