Bells Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Hi, I'm really worried about my 2 chickens. Neither have laid for the past 4/5 weeks. They are not displaying signs of broodiness as they seem to be eating and out of the eglu. They are perhaps a little less active than they used to be (but could be because of the heat I guess). The big thing however is that they are losing their feathers. My is nearly bald on her back and chest the whilst not quite as bad has clearly lost a lot of feathers judging by the number in the run and eglu. Is this a moult? I've had them (from omlet) since last June and this has never happened before. Is is normal that if it were something harmless they would have completely stopped laying as well? I also noticed this morning when I let them out that seemed to have some while flakes on her back feathers- I couldn't get a proper look underneath her feathers but has anyone come across this before? I think I can rule out and feather plucking themselves or by each other- I picked my up the other day to check her and masses of feathers fell out. In terms of what i've done so far- Verm x (proper dose each, 3 days in a row), dusting with mite powder (last week- i read I should repeat a week later so will do them again tomorrow) and have been putting tonic in their drinking water. Any advise or experiences you've had would be great. How long can I expect to have to wait for them to start laying again? I only have the 2 and having gone from 14 eggs most weeks to none is not great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I've never experienced a moult (and I've had my girls nearly 2 years ) but from what I've read on here it does sound like that's what you've got. The white flakes are the casings from the feather quills which sounds like new feathers are coming through. I think high protein food like tuna or cat food is good for hens growing new feathers. Perhaps they've stopped laying as all their energy is going into feather growth (don't quote me though!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Sounds like a full on moult. A bit unusual in terms of timing, but I imagine it will depend upon what time of year they were hatched. ANH is right about their energies going into growing feathers rather than laying eggs. I'd worm them with Flubenvet rather than Verm-X......I found it to be less than useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
