Hello all, new poster on here although have found the forum very useful beforehand. I've got a problem that I hope you can help with.
I have approx 35 brown warrens, various bantams (gold dutch, peking etc), 9 call ducks and 4 indian runner ducks. They all live in a concrete shed with loads of egg boxes, lots of space and food. The shed is approx 6m x 3m and there are loads of roosts etc for the birds. There are 3 roosters (all bantam) and 1 drake that we currently know of, and all birds apart from 10 of the ducks should be of egg laying age.
Despite wanting to lay in the hedge (we have normally found nests given away by the birds running there as soon as they are let out), the birds have one or two favorite spots in the shed. However, we would be expecting a solid 25-30 eggs from the warrens a day because they are supposed to lay approx 320 eggs a year. I don't know the age of the whole flock but some 13 or so were bought as pullets earlier this year, and most of the bantams and ducks are very young.
This problem has been ongoing for about 4 months now so I don't think it could be molt. We used to get a solid 18 eggs a day before the warren pullets were introduced and my bantams would provide 3 or 4 eggs for me daily too. Now I'm lucky if I get 2 eggs a week from the bantams and between 7 and 12 a day from the warrens
None of the hens appear to be broody, none seem to be missing, they are all fed layers pellets with a little mixed corn sometimes, and are ALWAYS free range. They get locked up at about 9.30pm and come out again at approx 9.30am, every day, never with any restrictions. They all rush to drink from puddles/ponds in the morning as we don't give them water over night (they splash it everywhere and it makes their bedding very soggy), but they have plenty of access to water
There are no obvious causes of stress for the birds - there are 8 cats and 6 dogs on the farm but the chickens rule the roost, the dogs and cats are scared of them.
I thought the problem could be a red mite infestation, and so I gave the whole run a deep clean, disinfect, fresh bedding and changed up the perches and boxes to give a bit of variety. The disinfectant was a mite killer too, and to top it all off, I powdered every bird that evening. The waste that I removed from the run was either burned or dug into my allotment away from the farm (3 miles away), to prevent reinfection.
I am lost for ideas now. Obviously it's nice to have chickens about but they need to pay their way on a working farm to a certain extent. Short of selling all the stock and starting again, my only other thought would be worming the hens, which I have only just learned about (been suggested by another poultry keeper nearby) but I don't know if this could help improve egg laying.
On a possibly related note, possibly 4 times a year we loose a chicken to some sort of constipation/egg bound illness, where the chicken starts getting very large, very messy vents, wattle folds over and the bird just looks unwell for about 2 weeks until it dies. Tried massaging and cleaning the area but not had any success, vetinary bills are £30 for a consultation and then anything else on top, usually for the vet to say there is nothing they can do.
I am located in north Wales, UK, if this helps any sort of diagnosis.
Many thanks in advance from me and my birds!
Matt
I have approx 35 brown warrens, various bantams (gold dutch, peking etc), 9 call ducks and 4 indian runner ducks. They all live in a concrete shed with loads of egg boxes, lots of space and food. The shed is approx 6m x 3m and there are loads of roosts etc for the birds. There are 3 roosters (all bantam) and 1 drake that we currently know of, and all birds apart from 10 of the ducks should be of egg laying age.
Despite wanting to lay in the hedge (we have normally found nests given away by the birds running there as soon as they are let out), the birds have one or two favorite spots in the shed. However, we would be expecting a solid 25-30 eggs from the warrens a day because they are supposed to lay approx 320 eggs a year. I don't know the age of the whole flock but some 13 or so were bought as pullets earlier this year, and most of the bantams and ducks are very young.
This problem has been ongoing for about 4 months now so I don't think it could be molt. We used to get a solid 18 eggs a day before the warren pullets were introduced and my bantams would provide 3 or 4 eggs for me daily too. Now I'm lucky if I get 2 eggs a week from the bantams and between 7 and 12 a day from the warrens
None of the hens appear to be broody, none seem to be missing, they are all fed layers pellets with a little mixed corn sometimes, and are ALWAYS free range. They get locked up at about 9.30pm and come out again at approx 9.30am, every day, never with any restrictions. They all rush to drink from puddles/ponds in the morning as we don't give them water over night (they splash it everywhere and it makes their bedding very soggy), but they have plenty of access to water
There are no obvious causes of stress for the birds - there are 8 cats and 6 dogs on the farm but the chickens rule the roost, the dogs and cats are scared of them.
I thought the problem could be a red mite infestation, and so I gave the whole run a deep clean, disinfect, fresh bedding and changed up the perches and boxes to give a bit of variety. The disinfectant was a mite killer too, and to top it all off, I powdered every bird that evening. The waste that I removed from the run was either burned or dug into my allotment away from the farm (3 miles away), to prevent reinfection.
I am lost for ideas now. Obviously it's nice to have chickens about but they need to pay their way on a working farm to a certain extent. Short of selling all the stock and starting again, my only other thought would be worming the hens, which I have only just learned about (been suggested by another poultry keeper nearby) but I don't know if this could help improve egg laying.
On a possibly related note, possibly 4 times a year we loose a chicken to some sort of constipation/egg bound illness, where the chicken starts getting very large, very messy vents, wattle folds over and the bird just looks unwell for about 2 weeks until it dies. Tried massaging and cleaning the area but not had any success, vetinary bills are £30 for a consultation and then anything else on top, usually for the vet to say there is nothing they can do.
I am located in north Wales, UK, if this helps any sort of diagnosis.
Many thanks in advance from me and my birds!
Matt
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