fantasticjudyann Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 My 3 Gingernuts are nearly eighteen month sold and have been laying well up till about a month ago. Now it is a bit erratic. Yesterday three eggs , today one and occasionally two. They seem healthy enough. They are eating and drinking OK and I worm them every month. They have DE in their nest box each week and I spray them with Frontline every three months. They have a large WIR and don't freerange. There are a lot of feathers in the run but they don't look as if they are moulting and I have seen no evidence of feather pecking. Two of them have a bit of white muck around the vent area but I thought this was just dried wee. Am I making a fuss about nothing or is there a problem here? Any ideas would be very welcome .Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneyolktoanother Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 what do you worm them with?, we use flubenvet 3 times a year, also with the feather loss have you checked for mites, lice etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticjudyann Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 I have always used Vermex for worms and last time I looked there were no lice so I guess the Frontline is working. But thanks for the tip- I'll check again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevf1 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 sounds like moulting.. my two warrens lost loads of feathers and stopped laying completely for about 2 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticjudyann Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks for that. The feather loss has been going on for weeks. Isn't it the wrong time of year for a moult? Having said that , they have not moulted before so this would be the first one so maybe that's why it is odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevf1 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 mine there feather loss went on for about 4 weeks i'd say but even right to they started growing back they kept dropping feathers... mine looked strange but they kept eating looked healthy kept drinking... so i just gave them some extra poutlry spice couple of times a week.. and they eventually started grwoinmg again then laying.. and now are just big feather balls again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticjudyann Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 I thought chickens went bald when moulting. Mine are nowhere near bald but there are still so many feathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevf1 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 they don't go completely bald well mine didn't some lose them from the neck area some from the chest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
