sorkycake Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Last Thursday we lost our Blue Haze chicken, since Friday the other 3 have all but stopped laying. Are they in mourning? The only hen to produce 2 eggs is the youngest who is just coming into lay. We had a thin shelled egg 3 days ago and another today. She seems to be laying overnight and dropping them off the perch! Todays egg from her was odd inside. It had a very thick egg white (than normal) and 2 brown lumps inside on the yolk. I looked twice because one of these lumps looked like a woodlouse!! Anyone have any idea why this is, or indeed why my other 2 hens who were laying fine, have not laid for 4 days. They came from a farm which had them FR and are FR in our back garden if this helps. The hen house has been red-mite eradicated, they have no problems roosting. I have changed their feed station as they didn't seem to be eating much and are now happier with this. One of their poo had red bits in, not quite like blood, sort of like terracotta coloured tissue, if that makes sense. That's it! Can anyone help me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorkycake Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Oh and another question if don't mind...I'm feeding them Smaholder layers pellets, but they don't seem to be eating much of it and when we last got hold of them (tricky chickens) they felt quite thin. Are chickens picky about feed? When is the best time to get them to eat the layers pellets? Should I change to something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 How old are they? They could be approaching their annual moult which would lead to a halt in the egg production department. Sudden changes in weather can cause hiccups too. Do you know when they were last wormed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorkycake Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 I don't know when they were wormed I have mixed some DE with their feed this morning and kept them in the run until they've eaten the layers pellets. We doused them in Louse powder last night when they were sleepy, as I found a small insect (like a pale yellowish mite) on the back of one of their necks. We'll see what happens, so far they're not touching the feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
