Single hen

[Boybeck]

Hi there,

 

I have three ISA Browns, they're about a year old and have been laying daily.

 

One of them has not laid for about five days. She has diarrhoea and a few days ago I found a little bit of what looked like yolk in the eglu but it wasn't from a broken egg.

 

She appears to be a bit quieter than the other two but is still eating and running about in the garden.

 

The chickens don't appear to be molting either.

 

Any ideas about what's wrong, if anything?

[Hen Watch]

Maybe she has been laying softies. My lot eat them, shell and all but sometimes I find a bit of egg evidence through the roosting bars where they can't reach.

 

Softies can make them look hunched up and poorly.

 

Perhaps you give give them all a bit of Limestone Flour in their feed to boost their calcium for the shells. And maybe some bokashi bran to help with the squits.

 

Also, have you wormed them recently? I had a fall in egg production after I'd had mine for 10 months. I had never seen evidence of worms, but wormed them anyway, and to my horror saw dead worms in their poo. Egg production went back up.

[Boybeck]

I've never wormed them, so that could be it. What did you use?

[Plum]

I used flubenvet which is recommended most often on here http://www.petmeds.co.uk/p-3359-flubenvet-medicated-premixture.aspx You can find it cheaper if you google. You put 1/2 tsp to 2Kg of feed for 7 days and throw away whats not eaten. Some use Vermex but it seems less well thought of and mainly a preventative.

Hope she picks up.

[Hen Watch]

I've never wormed them, so that could be it. What did you use?

 

Flubenvet Intermediate Wormer. I use it now every 3 months regardless.

 

You can get some online:

http://www.petdispensary.co.uk

http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk

http://www.petmeds.co.uk/

[chelsea]

I would also recommend worming every 3-4 months as a preventative and for good general health.

 

A hen with worms is usually quiet, hunched, and generally doesnt look happy.

 

It might be worth worming yours if they havent been done. Flubenvet is good.

 

I would also maybe give her the once over for lice, I was horrified once to find a "quiet" hen with lice last summer.

[Boybeck]

Thanks for your replies, before I saw them I ordered Verm X off the Omlet website. I'll see how I get on.