Bateleur
In the Brooder
- Apr 8, 2015
- 12
- 0
- 22
One of my hens, Scarlet, started a hard molt a few weeks ago, but for the past week I've noticed a significant plummet in her appetite. She won't eat neither her regular layer feed nor the high protein feed I bought for her, and she even reluctant to eat the high-protein treats I put out for her (scrambled egg and a little bit of tuna). Although I've gotten her to eat some scrambled egg over the past few days by hand feeding her, she would only eat a tiny amount. The one thing that really entices her seems to be scratch, which I know for a fact isn't nutritious for her, but I haven't even had luck getting her to eat eggs mixed with it and when I mix a little into her feed she would just brush the feed aside to peck the scratch kernels out.
I have seen her drink some water yesterday and the day before, and her stools are small sized (as expected), dark/black in color (along with the white urate), and look slightly runny but not completely liquid. She also seems alert and will sometimes hop up and perch on the edge of the hutch whenever I open it.
What really concerns me is that ever since last week I noticed she's been walking low to the ground like a crawl. At first I thought it was because the weather may have been a little chilly for her (although it wasn't freezing) and she was trying to keep warm, but even since I began keeping her in a hutch indoors, she still has that gait. I found this thread that described similar symptoms and suggested it could possibly be a protein imbalance as a result of growing all those feathers at once: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/443905
But of course Scarlet doesn't want to eat so I'm at a loss of how to get some food in her.
I have seen her drink some water yesterday and the day before, and her stools are small sized (as expected), dark/black in color (along with the white urate), and look slightly runny but not completely liquid. She also seems alert and will sometimes hop up and perch on the edge of the hutch whenever I open it.
What really concerns me is that ever since last week I noticed she's been walking low to the ground like a crawl. At first I thought it was because the weather may have been a little chilly for her (although it wasn't freezing) and she was trying to keep warm, but even since I began keeping her in a hutch indoors, she still has that gait. I found this thread that described similar symptoms and suggested it could possibly be a protein imbalance as a result of growing all those feathers at once: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/443905
But of course Scarlet doesn't want to eat so I'm at a loss of how to get some food in her.