>:(Hi all,
I have a small group of seven light Sussex hens and two cockerels since spring this year and we are now getting 2-3 eggs per day.
But the problems first started mid December when our young cockerel, omelette, was found dead in the coop one morning. Couldn't see anything wrong with him so put it down to "just one of those things".
Then a couple of days before Christmas day, one of the hens didn't come out of the coop in the morning. She couldn't walk and was very sleepy. When we checked on her later in the morning she was dead. Again I hadn't noticed anything wrong with her when we put them to bed in the evening.
No more deaths for a week now, but today i decided to give their wings a clip and put some loose powder on them as we have been tackling lice for a few weeks. I didn't find any lice this morning but doused them again just in case. What did worry me though is two hens have got quite pale combs and have runny bums. Is this a sign that they may be next in line to die
??
They were wormed with Fluben vet twice this year so doubt its worms, have been tackling and winning the lice war, no red mites have been seen. Have ordered some of that spot on lice treatment, (forgotten the name at the moment), to finish the last sign of lice for definite.
I don't know what else to do really, but am worried that there is something going through the group and it will slowly kill them all.
Has anyone experienced this, I may be worrying for no reason, but have kept a small group of hens on and off for years and have found that hens don't usually just drop dead.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Steph