dark floppy comb seems lathargic

I have a white tailed brown hen, she has a dark comb which is flopping to one side, she seems lathargic and her eyes keep opening and closing. For a while now we have only been getting 2 eggs from 3 hens, but i wasn't sure if 1 had stopped laying or if they were all still laying but not everyday. All the hens are 2 years old, we originally had 4 (2 from one farm then 2 from another, bought only 1 week apart) the partner from the same farm died on easter Sunday, she seemed fine 1 minute but then she just didn't want to get out of the coop in the morning and died within minutes before I could figure out what was wrong with her. She was also lathargic but can't remember if comb was normal. Could it be something genetic picked up from same farm?

My other thought was that yesterday I introduced 3 more hens into their new larger run and wasn't sure if this could be due to stress or fighting or could the new hens of given them an illness?

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by: sharon

What you are describing sounds like these are "Production" type hens. There are several breeds designed to only lay for about 2 years. They usually lay well for those two years, but are worn out by the end of that time. Since this type of hen is what is used in commercial egg farms, they are replaced frequently, as soon as egg production slows. The older hens are retired and used for meat, usually before they are two years old. This type of chicken breed lacks the ability to live a long healthy life. They generally begin to have several health problems around the same time that they stop laying. The comb flopping over can be a sign of low blood pressure and other internal problems.

I've posted this on our Facebook page to see if anyone else has suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/RaisingChickensORG?fref=ts

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