Hi everyone - I'm trying to learn and read. It's hard to know what to dig into though on this gargantuan site!
I'm concerned about a nearly-3yo Rhode Island Red. She's laid few eggs for several months now, since 2 of 4 of her flock died (perhaps earlier though). The ones she lays have very thin shells. She's had a poopy butt most of this time, not sure if it's coincident in time, could be. Sometimes she'll sit a looong while in a nest but doesn't usually produce an egg. She'll roll other hen's eggs underneath her though! She doesn't appear distressed but a little less feathers, less fluffed out than formerly. Her crest is large, bright red, sturdy.
She's been scarfly in her breathing all this while, sometimes seems to "cough", not even to sneeze. I don't hear the labored breathing unless I pick her up.
Worrying that she was constipated or eggbound, I did once check in her vent (several weeks ago) and felt nothing there.
No obvious bugs, parasites, worms. Poops look normal, except that lots of it sticks to her feathers.
Worried about the poopy butt and constipation, I fed her some coconut oil a few weeks back that seems maybe to have helped a bit. Then two days ago I fed her more (approx 1 tsp, maybe more); then the following day this happened:
Yesterday, late afternoon very publicly she squatted down and produced an egg with just the barest of egg coverings, basically none.
After the non-egg laying, there was a feeding frenzy in which much egg wound up on everyone's feathers so I washed this one. I realized the poop was really stuck on and it took several washings and rubbing to get her clean. I took a couple photos. And tried to inspect her vent but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
It does seem as if she is swollen beneath the legs, which is what I read somewhere could be fatty liver problems blocking the exit of poop? I'm attaching two pictures but they may not show enough. Please let me know if there's something better I should capture. As it's not clear there's too much to do about this problem, not sure what this will do.
Is she just "old" and at the end of her egg-laying tenure? Is she sick in a way I can help her with (respiratory?) Is she over-fed in a way I can't now help her with? Is she still depressed about her former buds? (she has two new laying hens well-integrated into the flock now).
tia!
I'm concerned about a nearly-3yo Rhode Island Red. She's laid few eggs for several months now, since 2 of 4 of her flock died (perhaps earlier though). The ones she lays have very thin shells. She's had a poopy butt most of this time, not sure if it's coincident in time, could be. Sometimes she'll sit a looong while in a nest but doesn't usually produce an egg. She'll roll other hen's eggs underneath her though! She doesn't appear distressed but a little less feathers, less fluffed out than formerly. Her crest is large, bright red, sturdy.
She's been scarfly in her breathing all this while, sometimes seems to "cough", not even to sneeze. I don't hear the labored breathing unless I pick her up.
Worrying that she was constipated or eggbound, I did once check in her vent (several weeks ago) and felt nothing there.
No obvious bugs, parasites, worms. Poops look normal, except that lots of it sticks to her feathers.
Worried about the poopy butt and constipation, I fed her some coconut oil a few weeks back that seems maybe to have helped a bit. Then two days ago I fed her more (approx 1 tsp, maybe more); then the following day this happened:
Yesterday, late afternoon very publicly she squatted down and produced an egg with just the barest of egg coverings, basically none.
After the non-egg laying, there was a feeding frenzy in which much egg wound up on everyone's feathers so I washed this one. I realized the poop was really stuck on and it took several washings and rubbing to get her clean. I took a couple photos. And tried to inspect her vent but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
It does seem as if she is swollen beneath the legs, which is what I read somewhere could be fatty liver problems blocking the exit of poop? I'm attaching two pictures but they may not show enough. Please let me know if there's something better I should capture. As it's not clear there's too much to do about this problem, not sure what this will do.
Is she just "old" and at the end of her egg-laying tenure? Is she sick in a way I can help her with (respiratory?) Is she over-fed in a way I can't now help her with? Is she still depressed about her former buds? (she has two new laying hens well-integrated into the flock now).
tia!
There seems absolutely no way, however, that I could be successful at diminishing the amount of sweetener that winds up on that oatmeal, however.
