Summer Reed
In the Brooder
Hi everyone !
I think one of my hens is sick but I can't figure what's wrong with her. She's two and she's a Blue Andalusian. Her tail has been pointing down since Monday morning (two days ago) and she seems to sit more often than usual. She has spasms or contractions like she's trying to lay an egg. She eats but less than she usually does, and her stools look normal (I think). I first decided to give her a warm bath in case she was egg bound but she didn't like it and I noticed she was breathing with her beak wide open. The room was maybe 25°C/77°F and the water was around 30°C/86°F so I cracked a window and she seemed to feel better. I got her off the water after 20 minutes and called the vet who told us to come immediately. He checked her vent (like really far deep) and even did an xray and nothing's going on. She's indeed in laying phase (they can tell because of their bone density ? So the vet told me) but she hasn't laid for a week now I think (I can't be sure, it's just that I found only two eggs every day for the last week instead of three, I guess she's the one not laying). Her last eggs were absolutely normal.
Since she started laying eggs at 6 months old, she layed almost everyday even during the winter. She barely stops (same goes for the two others. It happens from time to time but no more than a few days before they’re back laying).
The vet told me she looks fine, crop full, no fluid seen on the xray, lungs ok, eyes clear, comb ok (to me it looks a little dehydrated but I'm a new chicken owner and I'm not familiar with that) everything seems normal except that she has her tail pointed down and I feel like her appetite has decreased. She weighs 2,5kg/5lbs, which is what’s to be expected for that breed. No nostrils discharge, no labored breathing (except when I gave her the warm bath), no sneezing, wheezing, coughing. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot just to make sure and another shot of minerals and stuff. He explained that he could do an oxytocin shot if she was egg bound but since that’s not the case, he didn’t.
I isolated her for the night in a crate in the garage and she was very calm (she’s more active usually, she likes to run and fly/jump). She never liked to be picked up. I let her free range in the backyard yesterday morning after the night in the garage and the first thing she did was to go straight to the enclosure and try to jump and fly over the fence to go back with the others. She seemed so desperate (she did that for a solid five minutes, going back and forth, trying to find the lowest spot) that I opened the gate and let them 3 be together again. They stayed together all day and they went to sleep at the same time into their coop. I will also mention that my three hens get along very well, so well that I can't tell what's the pecking order... They really seem to be all three at the same level (I don't know if it's possible), and when I give them treats they all run and peck at the very same time. I got them at the same place the same day when they were 3 months old, so they basically grew up together.
Also, we had red mites in June but I got rid of that in a week (we burned the old wooden coop and bought a plastic one, I know, plastic is not good for the environment but now I can just wash it thoroughly with soap and rinse it, let it dry, then reassemble it, and I do it every Sunday. I also put diatomaceous earth on my hens regularly, into the coop, and a dimethicone-something liquid. I have not seen any red mite since and trust me, this stuff haunts me and I check everyday). My hens are fed with Versele Laga Gold 4 Red Mash (we used to buy another brand and switched four months ago because we couldn't find it anymore - I'm from Belgium and I live right at the border with France). I noticed that their eggs are slightly bigger with the new food, but again, she’s apparently not egg bound. We don't give them a lot of food scraps because they're quite picky eaters. They won't eat any of our food except for lettuce, and plain rice or plain spaghettis. They have a water fountain that I clean as often as I can, and I give them once a week crushed oysters shell (with aniseed for some reason). I often give them dried mealworms just because they love that. The only thing I didn't do recently, and I'm just remembering it now, is to deworm them. Could it be the issue here ?
It's cold these days (a lot of rain, strong wind, and the temperature is around 10°C/50°F during the day, a little bit less during the night). We had so much rain and storms for the last few weeks that the grass turned into mud in most of the enclosure but I go every morning and open the gate so they can free range in my backyard and eat all the grass they want (we don’t have anything toxic in the yard, I made sure of that before adopting them).
We also have 4 cats and everyone gets along very well. The cats are actually quite protective with the hens. They won’t let any other cats come too close, and of course they prey on the rats and the birds that steal the food (we still have wild birds coming unfortunately, I’m not pleased because I know they carry a lot of diseases).
I gave my hens mealworms today to see if Ashley would eat and she did, not as much as she used to imo, but at least she’s eating.
I think I told you everything... I’m worried sick
(PS : please keep in mind I live in Belgium and sometimes specific products or food are not available here)
I think one of my hens is sick but I can't figure what's wrong with her. She's two and she's a Blue Andalusian. Her tail has been pointing down since Monday morning (two days ago) and she seems to sit more often than usual. She has spasms or contractions like she's trying to lay an egg. She eats but less than she usually does, and her stools look normal (I think). I first decided to give her a warm bath in case she was egg bound but she didn't like it and I noticed she was breathing with her beak wide open. The room was maybe 25°C/77°F and the water was around 30°C/86°F so I cracked a window and she seemed to feel better. I got her off the water after 20 minutes and called the vet who told us to come immediately. He checked her vent (like really far deep) and even did an xray and nothing's going on. She's indeed in laying phase (they can tell because of their bone density ? So the vet told me) but she hasn't laid for a week now I think (I can't be sure, it's just that I found only two eggs every day for the last week instead of three, I guess she's the one not laying). Her last eggs were absolutely normal.
Since she started laying eggs at 6 months old, she layed almost everyday even during the winter. She barely stops (same goes for the two others. It happens from time to time but no more than a few days before they’re back laying).
The vet told me she looks fine, crop full, no fluid seen on the xray, lungs ok, eyes clear, comb ok (to me it looks a little dehydrated but I'm a new chicken owner and I'm not familiar with that) everything seems normal except that she has her tail pointed down and I feel like her appetite has decreased. She weighs 2,5kg/5lbs, which is what’s to be expected for that breed. No nostrils discharge, no labored breathing (except when I gave her the warm bath), no sneezing, wheezing, coughing. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot just to make sure and another shot of minerals and stuff. He explained that he could do an oxytocin shot if she was egg bound but since that’s not the case, he didn’t.
I isolated her for the night in a crate in the garage and she was very calm (she’s more active usually, she likes to run and fly/jump). She never liked to be picked up. I let her free range in the backyard yesterday morning after the night in the garage and the first thing she did was to go straight to the enclosure and try to jump and fly over the fence to go back with the others. She seemed so desperate (she did that for a solid five minutes, going back and forth, trying to find the lowest spot) that I opened the gate and let them 3 be together again. They stayed together all day and they went to sleep at the same time into their coop. I will also mention that my three hens get along very well, so well that I can't tell what's the pecking order... They really seem to be all three at the same level (I don't know if it's possible), and when I give them treats they all run and peck at the very same time. I got them at the same place the same day when they were 3 months old, so they basically grew up together.
Also, we had red mites in June but I got rid of that in a week (we burned the old wooden coop and bought a plastic one, I know, plastic is not good for the environment but now I can just wash it thoroughly with soap and rinse it, let it dry, then reassemble it, and I do it every Sunday. I also put diatomaceous earth on my hens regularly, into the coop, and a dimethicone-something liquid. I have not seen any red mite since and trust me, this stuff haunts me and I check everyday). My hens are fed with Versele Laga Gold 4 Red Mash (we used to buy another brand and switched four months ago because we couldn't find it anymore - I'm from Belgium and I live right at the border with France). I noticed that their eggs are slightly bigger with the new food, but again, she’s apparently not egg bound. We don't give them a lot of food scraps because they're quite picky eaters. They won't eat any of our food except for lettuce, and plain rice or plain spaghettis. They have a water fountain that I clean as often as I can, and I give them once a week crushed oysters shell (with aniseed for some reason). I often give them dried mealworms just because they love that. The only thing I didn't do recently, and I'm just remembering it now, is to deworm them. Could it be the issue here ?
It's cold these days (a lot of rain, strong wind, and the temperature is around 10°C/50°F during the day, a little bit less during the night). We had so much rain and storms for the last few weeks that the grass turned into mud in most of the enclosure but I go every morning and open the gate so they can free range in my backyard and eat all the grass they want (we don’t have anything toxic in the yard, I made sure of that before adopting them).
We also have 4 cats and everyone gets along very well. The cats are actually quite protective with the hens. They won’t let any other cats come too close, and of course they prey on the rats and the birds that steal the food (we still have wild birds coming unfortunately, I’m not pleased because I know they carry a lot of diseases).
I gave my hens mealworms today to see if Ashley would eat and she did, not as much as she used to imo, but at least she’s eating.
I think I told you everything... I’m worried sick
(PS : please keep in mind I live in Belgium and sometimes specific products or food are not available here)
(true story). My sense of touch is not good at all.
