[Satdown]

I'm new, and really green. But would welcome a little bit of advice please.
I am enjoying the company of 10 new highbred chickens, approx 16/20 weeks old.  :)A few of them have given eggs all ready , but I am surprised that rather than increasing we see a decline. (Is this normal)
And how can I tell whether I've got a poorly chicken; I have one now, who is listless not pecking for food but just standing in the shade, sort of breathing from his rear- end. Up till now this is the one who has consistently laying everyday. Sorry I am so naive.

[SallyintNorth]

Hi Sue  and welcome to TAS.

I'm sure someone will be along soon who knows a bit more about poorly chickens.  for your listless one.

[Clansman]

Hi Satdown and welcome 

Are your chickens brown from a commercial producer? (the right spelling is hybrid)

This type?



light would be my first guess as to your egg problem.

Chickens need around 16 hours  light per day to stimulate laying.

If the light drops to under 14 hours per day most of them will stop laying.

The days are shortening and we are actually sitting around that 14 hour day length right now.

I run artificial light in my laying sheds 6am to 10pm.

You don't need a lot of light, the old rule I was taught was as long as you can read a newspaper it is bright enough for them but higher intensity will show a slight improvement in numbers and egg size in a large flock.

My second thought would be feed, are you feeding them a layers ration?

The one breathing from HIS backend who has previously laying most DEFINITELY has a problem!   

It sounds like it may be egg bound (egg stuck inside, possibly broken) or other egg problem, especially with birds coming into lay but hard to tell really from a description.

Have a wee look here

How To Help An Egg Bound Bird (Chickens)

[JulieWall]

It might just be the change in general. Chickens tend to react to change by going off lay temporarily and as they had just arrived it may be simply that they need to adjust to the new place. Chickens can go off lay just because the weather changes drastically so don't worry about it.
Point of lay is always claimed to be at this age but in reality they can often take many more weeks. Our last years hatch laid for a week then stopped for the entire winter because the days were shortening.

[jaykay]

Hi Satdown 

It's quite normal for chooks to stop laying when things change (it gets wetter, or drier, or windier, or calmer.....  ) But seriously, a change of home is enough to put them off their stroke.

They will need light over winter, if they are to continue laying. Mine aren't laying well at the moment as they are moulting - feathers all over the place.

The more worrying thing is the 'standing separately and breathing heavily' thing.

Sometimes when chickens are stressed, a bug that is in them all the time can get going and make them ill. Coccidiosis is one of these - they can also get 'the runs' from this and you'll see mucky bum feathers. To treat it you need Baycox from the vet, and you either squirt it in their beaks, or you put it in the water, if they're in a run and you can control what water they drink.

The other possibility is a respiratory disease, again, can be caused by stress - will need antibiotics.

Have they been wormed? If not, you can either buy pellets made with Flubenvet in them (from Marriages), which you feed for a week or you can buy flubenvet separately and mix it into the food for a week (a pain to do evenly, hence the Marriages pellets).

You can try 'nursing' and see if she improves. Your local feedstore will sell 'Poultry Spice' which is a mineral and tonic which can help, you mix it in their food.

Unfortunately, birds that appear ill though are often quite ill by the time they let on 

Good luck, I hope she settles in and starts feeling better 

[Mammyshaz]

Hello Satdown?

How long have you had the chooks?   If they are hybrids were you told they were vaccinated?

If they are new to you they can reduce the eggs laid just due to the upset of change in their home. Hopefully it will pick up once they settle.  I would expect hybrids to lay through the winter in their first year. A fluffed up, quiet chook sounds like it has a problem.
 If they are vaccinated then they are likely to be covered for the majority of diseases. And I think Jaykay has posted a good bit of advice on the stress and disease.  I also vote for worming them with Flubenvet just to be sure.

Sometimes new layers become a bit off colour but should be back to normal within a day or so once laid an egg. My experience is if they are still unwell in a couple of days then there is unlikely to be a good outcome. Keep an eye on your other girls and if any more seem depressed,fluffed upland quiet then have a word with a vet. They may want to start treatment for all the flock.

Good luck with them. And enjoy your fresh eggs   

[Satdown]

Thank you for all your helpful advice. Boy am I green, I've had them for nearly a week? Having read books borrowed from the library.
I have 10 hybrids, the lady in question is either the barred or the speckled (apologies I cant tell the difference yet) I've been keeping a close eye on her and she is certainly the quietest girl in the flock. She brightened somewhat in the afternoon, joining the rest of the girls pecking the ground. I am still unsure whether she is poorly or not, so am popping out every hour or so to have a chat and look see. We allowed them to roam around us last night monitoring all behaviours..........lovely and fun actually. and she was amongst them.
The Bluebell is extremely friendly rushing to be the first every-time, closely followed by the Moran/couvier (x3) The leghorn (sp) were just scatty and a couple of weeks younger.
Could I ask what greens you feed your girls with please. I'm a little concerned that the large area I have homed them in is lacking vegetation/grass. I've given tomatoes/lettuce/dandelion leaves and they don't seem that bothered, preferring bugs insects and whats right in front of them. I think I'm getting paranoid?
I bought them from an extremely retable owner, and was privileged with a tour of her entire flock, they have been wormed and vaccinated.

I got a large egg this morning.......?

[lord flynn]

mine like spring greens, young cabbages, heads of broccoli, corn on the cob,carrots, apples, green beans-I basically give them whatever is in season and cheapest-for a rare treat they get blueberries and they go ape for them. If you can hang veggies up it gives them a bit more to do but it maybe they have enough stuff on the ground to keep them busy right now.

advocados are toxic to them and I avoid giving any animal garlic or onions. They also have a low tolerance for salt so avoid salty scraps.

Plan to worm them 3 times a year with flubenvet as mentioned-don't rely on the herbal stuff. you can also get ground disinfectant such as Bio Dri or Stalosan F for high use areas and the floor of their house-it will help keep pathogen levles under control. Moving waterers and feeders often can help as well. Enjoy your hens

[jaykay]

Good news on the brighter hen, and the egg 

And we were all 'first time chicken keepers' at some point 

[Anke]

Tomato leaves (and potato leaves) are toxic - they belong to the same family as Deadly Nightshade. And this is true for all animals, including humans.
 
I often will chuck in the weeds from the veg beds, but to be honest they just look for any unfortunate worms still wriggling about in the root bits... Chickens are ominovores and will prefer animal protein to plant ones..

[SallyintNorth]

Thinking about feeding...

I was taught to feed pellets in the morning and wheat before bed.  Wheat because it's hard and they need hard grain to work through what's in their crop overnight.  Wheat not in the morning or they fill up on it and don't eat their pellets, which contain nutrients they can't get from wheat.

I found that too many pellets resulted in oversized eggs / double yolkers.  Great fun the first time you have them, but not so much fun for the chook  .  So check the recommended feeding levels, adjust for any bread or other similar treats you are feeding, and do not overfeed.  Reduce again if still getting double-yolkers / oversize eggs.  I had one greedy bird couldn't help herself  - so I switched to a pellet they didn't like so much and that sorted her overeating out!     (Wish someone could do this for me  )

Chickens fed at the correct levels should be keen on foraging and, if penned without vegetation, should be very keen on fresh greens and soft veg.  If they're not, I'd suspect overfeeding of their pellets / grain - see above.

If they're penned, they do have access to grit, do they?  If they're free range they should find plenty of grit in their everyday pecking about (so long as they are pecking about and not just hanging about, full up on pellets and/or grain) but if they're penned then it's worth providing a mixed grit.  They'll also need a dust bath if they're not free to go and make one for themselves.

Hope the large-egg lady continues to improve