[jacob and Georgina]

we have had 7 chickens in the garden for just over a year, we bought them at 25 weeks old and they started laying straight away. i was wandering weather it is normal for the amount of eggs to decrease as they get older, obviously they will stop after several years but we have gone from getting at least 7 a day to now sometimes only 2/3. We did unfortuneatley loose one of them a few days ago to what we believe was a natural death possibley a heart attack, could this possibley have an effect? will they realise that one has gone? Is there any thing i can do to keep them entertained and not bored? i am sure that they are happy with their enclosure as i have read the guidelines and could be keeping as many as 20 chickens.

[HappyHippy]

You can hang cabbages up for them to peck at, have different perches for them and bits of branches so they can 'play'. I'm fairly new to chickens myself but am certain that the egg production does drop off a bit in the 2nd year, wouldn't have thought it'd drop as much as that though  Have they been wormed lately ? any signs of ill health ? Could it be possible they were older than stated when you got them ? I'm sure more experienced folk will have a bit more advice though.

[Sandy]

Chickens seem to keep laying even in battery farms where there is nothing else to do so not sure if it would effect them. I suppose you could throw in some worms and something for them to scratch around in. I thrown allsorts to mine and sometimes scatter wild bird around. One of mine has taken to falling out of a tree and getting into my flower garden and eating our newly planted flowers so if she dose not stop soon she may be dog food  P.S my egg supply fluctuates as well so would be interested in others views!!

[jacob and Georgina]

thanks for your reply. cabbages sounds like a good idea, i have got plenty of perches already. I have never wormed the chickens is this necessary? how do i go about it? there is no sign of ill health they all look perfectly healthy. does the fact that they do not have much grass make a difference since they have scratched it all up. Have not ruled out the fact they could be older however when they came they were much smaller and so too were there eggs so i would have thought that they were young.

[HappyHippy]

I would say if they've never been wormed it'd be a good idea to do it. You can buy stuff to mix with their food - think it should be done every 6 months. Have a look where you buy their food from you should get it there. Do you treat your coop for red mite ? That's another thing that might be affecting their laying - have a look for wee red spidery things on the perches, in the corners of the house or sometimes on the birds themselves, again you can buy stuf to spray in the coop from your feed supplier. Really bad infestations, I believe, can kill birds - so worth having a look.
If they've scratched all the grass up and you're able to move their run to fresh stuff that might make them a bit happier, but my two had been kept on concrete for a year before I got them and laid well - so doubt it would be that causing the problem.

[plumseverywhere]

I would worm them (use flubenvet - no egg withdrawal for you)  are they getting layers pellets through the day?

mine have a worm area in their run, every now an dthen I turn a semi dug patch back over and they dig for worms for ages!  my 4 daughters also keep them in wiggly beasts after school bless them!

[jacob and Georgina]

thanks all for replies will defiantly get some flubenvet and red mite treatment although i have checked the house regularly for any signs of red mite don't want to take any risks, not able to move them onto more grass but will dig up a large area of some soil so they can scratch round for worms.

[andy harris]

I had the same problem with one of my hen a few days ago her poo was all watery and she just did not do anything.I was told to worm her i got some worming pettets from the pet shop"cost me £15" 2 days later she was back to the way she was.I have read chickens do get bord so i would put a perch in the run it keeps them from getting bord and stops fether pecking so i read.

[coxclan7]

Don't know how big your run is or if you have any places they can lurk. My egg production dropped in their run, then one day I discovered a pile of 20 eggs under a broken fence panel!

[jacob and Georgina]

well then run is fairly large and i have found several eggs in places before but am sure they are not laying elsewhere this time. I have wormed them now and things seem to be picking up now getting  5 from 6 every day which is really good. i also dug a patch up in the corner of their run so they can scratch for worms which they seem to really enjoy as the rest of the soil has been baked hard. I also have been hanging cabbages from some low branches and definitely enjoy pecking at them. Managed to get some natural wormer called diatom which when added to food acts as a wormer and also when scattered around the house amongst the bedding protects against red mite, sounds like pretty good stuff if it works? Thanks for for advice has been very useful   

[Sandy]

We keep getting one of our chickens over into our flower bit of garden and she lay's in a planter, hope I have put a stop to that today as I put extra mesh up on the fence seperating the chickens from our flowers!!!!! I also have found sometimes they change and hide thier  eggs, the DUcks is always hidding her's!!