Ask the Expert October/November 2020
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Hen Stops Laying
Hi,
I have a two-and-one-half-year-old Barred Rock who used to be one of my best producers. She suddenly stopped laying a few months ago. Other than that, she seems fine. No sign of illness or injury. She is eating and drinking and bossing the other hens around. I feed a layer crumble that has 17% protein and offer oyster shell free-choice. They receive a small, healthy snack at the end of the day. The last month, she has laid at least three broken eggs; not an egg that broke, but an egg with a very thin shell that I believe broke inside of her before it came out. She doesn’t seem to have the signs of being egg-bound. She laid one normal egg last week and one a couple of months ago. My other hens are laying well. What do you think is wrong? What should I do for her (other than taking her to a vet)? Thanks so much for any guidance you can provide!
Kimberlie Hassian, California
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Hi Kimberlie,
There are many reasons that a hen would stop laying, even one as young as yours. Since it’s summer, and she stopped laying in spring, I wouldn’t assume it to be molt. Is there any chance your hens exhibited cold-like symptoms in late winter or early spring, such as runny noses and rattling breath? Infectious bronchitis can cause laying problems like you describe, including the thin-shelled eggs despite giving her the best nutrition possible. And often, this disease is otherwise asymptomatic but still causes inflammation within the oviduct. If she is otherwise acting normal at the moment, I wouldn’t assume she is currently ill. And you’re certainly feeding her right. There’s not much you can do at the moment other than keep her healthy until her oviduct recovers. Good luck, and I hope she starts laying again soon!
Marissa
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Hi,
Thank you very much for your quick reply!
She went through a full molt in the winter and then starting laying very well for a couple of months before she stopped again. She hasn’t been losing any feathers. No one has had any cold-like symptoms. She sure does have me mystified! Thanks so much! Love your magazine.
Kimberlie
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Sour Crop
I figured out today that my broody Silkie, Tira, has sour crop. I had found a liquid of undigested food and water in her nesting box, but I thought it was probably just a strange broody poop. Today when I picked her up, she spewed the same liquid on me from her beak. I isolated her and am feeding her garlic and probiotics with water. Her friend Cinnamon is keeping her company. She did a tiny poop, so I figured that would be a good sign. I was wondering if there is anything you can recommend and if sour crop victims have a likely chance of surviving the encounter.
Thanks,
Leah
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Hi Leah,
Sour crop is essentially a fungal infection that can happen when food backs up in the crop combined with starchy foods which fungus-like yeast LOVE. And it is certainly survivable if you take care of it soon enough. Many chicken owners will turn their birds upside down while gently massaging the crop to induce vomiting, but poultry experts advise against this because doing it wrong may injure your chicken. A veterinarian can correctly flush the crop. Supply foods that discourage fungi, such as the apple cider vinegar in the water, fresh oregano leaves or oregano oil diluted with olive oil, or a little yogurt. The garlic and probiotics are great ideas. (Remember none of these are part of a chicken’s normal diet, so don’t give too much. Also, I addressed how much garlic to give in the August/September 2020 issue of Backyard Poultry. It’s definitely worth a read since too much garlic can cause hemolytic anemia in chickens.) Avoid any treats like bread, sugary items, or corn for now. Sometimes, when those strategies don’t work, owners need to resort to antifungal medications that can be given orally. The Merck Veterinary Manual recommends Nystatin. Consult a veterinarian for a list of medications that can be given to chickens, and dosages for each.
Good luck! Your birds are lucky to have an owner who cares so much for their health.
Marissa Ames
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Strange Colored Egg
I collected this Welsummer egg one afternoon and was very surprised at the coloration of it, as I had received spotted eggs from my hens before, but none to this extreme! How do the colors on a single egg like this one differ so greatly?
Thanks,
Brandon, Louisiana
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Hi Brandon,
Great question! We know that the brown color is from protoporphyrines that are “painted onto” the egg during the final stages of production, but I went looking for an exact answer as to WHY this egg would have all the spots concentrated at the tip. And it seems even scientists don’t yet know the answer. What they have found, though, is that certain factors can affect the coloration of brown-shelled eggs laid by the same chicken: whether she ever had certain illnesses, how old she is, where she is in her yearly laying cycle, and even what time of day the egg was laid. (Did you know that eggs laid earlier in the morning tend to be darker than eggs laid later in the morning?)
Here is research from where they tried to determine exactly where the protoporphyrin is deposited, whether on the cuticle or further within the shell: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24046428/
And here is the study where scientists determined that eggs laid earlier in the morning tend to be darker: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27333974/
I will be watching these studies to hopefully learn all the dynamics of brown egg color!
Thanks for sharing your egg with us!
Marissa
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Dead Hen
My two-year-old Australorp hen was found dead under a low perch this morning with this 1.5×1” firm mass in her wide-open beak. There are no bugs or larvae in it. It doesn’t smell. She has been completely normal and laying well like her flock mates. Her weight and feathers are ideal. Will they eat mud? Could dirt cause a crop impaction? Could she have choked on it while trying to regurgitate it? Her throat behind the mass was clear. Thank you for your thoughts.
Sally “Chicken Lady,” Pennsylvania
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Hi Sally,
I believe you’re correct in your guess that your hen choked while trying to regurgitate a crop impaction. While specifically eating mud isn’t common, chickens will eat rocks to help grind the food. Also, when they eat feathers, fibrous material, etc. and it doesn’t pass through the digestive system, it can appear to look like dirt as it decays. If you Google images of material removed from impacted crops, it looks similar to this but perhaps with fresher content that has caused a complete obstruction. It sounds like the impaction wasn’t bad enough to otherwise affect her behaviors until she tried to clear it.
I’m sorry about your hen’s death and I hope this helps.
Marissa
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Chicken with Vision Problem
My sweet Thelma has developed vision problems. She is about six-years-plus and an Easter Egger.
It seems like this is something she developed about several months ago, or I didn’t notice. However, it’s now very apparent. She misses where she is attempting to bite food. If I hold out spinach for her, she goes to bite it about a couple of inches away from the food.
The good news is she manages to eat her regular food and drinks water, as well as she still dust bathes and sleeps on top of the coop.
FYI, the coop is inside a very secure and large run.
In my 20 years of keeping chickens who live a nice long life, one that died at age 12, I’ve never seen this before. Is it related to her breed and is there anything I can do?
Geri Spieler
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Hi Geri,
First off: Does the eye look any different? Is there swelling around the eye, cloudiness like the eye has a cataract, odd discharge, or is the eye bloodshot? If so, you might be dealing with an injury or infection. Here is a great story that talks about procedures and products that you can use to help Thelma:
Unfortunately, there are other reasons for vision problems, and these are much more difficult to treat. Actual cataracts (not the cloudiness caused by injury or infection) or Ocular Marek’s disease are two of them. With cataracts, your chicken should be fine with the handicap, and it sounds like she is doing just fine right now. With Ocular Marek’s, death is imminent. We have a story about this within our 2020 Special Subscriber Issue of Backyard Poultry, but here is an excerpt from the story:
“Ocular Marek’s disease symptoms are irregularly shaped pupils, gray or cloudy eyes, difficulty seeing, and finally total blindness in one or both eyes. A chicken’s owner may realize something is wrong when the chicken doesn’t respond to human approach, or when it has trouble picking up small food items.”
I hope this helps and can give you some answers! Good luck!
Marissa
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Thank you so much for your follow-up. I love the publication and have been a subscriber for many years.
Thelma’s eyes are not at all cloudy and I don’t see any wounds. Her behavior is this: When I hold out spinach or she does to peck something off the ground, she misses it. For the spinach, she looks, then goes to get several inches away. So, whatever the issue, it is a perspective issue? When I examined her eyes more closely, her pupils are not misshapen nor are her eyes cloudy.
She seems to be eating (I’m checking with you and making special options to be sure she is getting food and water) and watching her behavior. But, as you said, this could get worse.
Re: the article, it would seem a good idea to get the Vetericyn Eye Gel to see if that helps? Is there a reason I should not use it on her?
Thanks.
Geri
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Hi Geri,
Vetericyn is a great product. And though I don’t recommend that people use it indiscriminately (meaning applying it frequently just to prevent a problem that hasn’t yet happened) it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use some to see if it can mitigate the issue that you are experiencing. Other than that, I recommend watching her behavior as you are already doing, to assess if the quality of life declines. And if it does, then you would need to make a decision regarding accessibility (helping her get to food and water easier) or if culling is an option.
Good luck!
Marissa
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Egg Drop Syndrome
Hi, does egg drop syndrome ever cure with time or does it stay dormant and reoccur?
Thank you.
Peter
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Hi Peter,
We received your question about egg drop syndrome. Though the disease has no cure, the Merck Veterinary Manual reports that egg production usually returns to normal. None of the scientific resources I found reported that the cycle of production drop can occur multiple times within the same hen. The only odd exception is when a chick hatches from an infected egg; some chicks develop antibodies but usually, the virus is latent and she may appear completely asymptomatic, then later after she reaches point of lay, the virus will reactivate and she will experience the same laying problems as the other hens and can shed the virus to infect others. In backyard flocks, these outbreaks may just be an inconvenience, as it may take up to 10 weeks for it to work its way through a flock and for production to return. But for commercial producers who know the virus is endemic in their areas, they can vaccinate hens at around 14 weeks then with yearly boosters. Chickens that have had the disease develop antibodies that prevent reinfection and can boost overall resistance within a flock.
I hope this helps!
Marissa
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New Chicks
Hello,
I own two hens, one Orpington and a Rhode Island Red. They are one-and-a-half years old. Soon I would like to buy two-week-old chicks and put them in the coop. Is that wise? Would they be adopted?
Thank you.
Gilbert Parent, Illinois
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Hi Gilbert,
I do not recommend putting the new chickens in with the older hens until they are at least six weeks old. Hens will often adopt chicks but 1) the hens must be broody 2) the chicks must be very young. I’ve successfully given one-week-old chicks to some of my most dependable broody hens but two weeks is a lot to ask. If a hen is not broody and you give her chicks, she will often kill them. You can mitigate any possible disasters if you wait until the chicks are fully feathered so they can fly away from the older hens, plus be sure your coop and run have areas where the smaller pullets can hide from the larger hens, until they can all learn to get along.
Good luck!
Marissa
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Originally published in the October/November 2020 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
