Recovering hen will not eat layer pellets.

[eggbert420]

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi - just a quick update. Dot seems a lot better and wanting to leave the crate. I bathed her again yesterday and removed some white discharge from her rear end which had hardened a bit so was a bit tricky to remove but managed in the end. I tried her with some layers mash but she was not really interested. She does eat some chick crumb and is drinking a lot more now. I think she may be almost over the vent gleet - hope so - as there does not seem to be much on her rear end now . However yesterday and today she laid a shell-less egg. She does have access to bird grit and a separate pot of oyster shell but I suspect she needs some extra calcium and that vit D in the supplement will help absorb the calcium. I'm looking on Amazon to see what might be best. The nutri drops seem to have boosted her and after five days of those I'm now giving her poultry spice again. I will now read again some of the articles about re-integration with the other hens but I suspect a lot of patience will be needed :-(.

Glad to hear she is still improving!

Hopefully you can find the calcium supplement you are looking for on Amazon. You can also give her human calcium supplements - like Caltrate or similar brand. Dosage would be 1/2tablet until she start laying a solid shell egg. You can crush/crumble it and add it to her feed or onto a tasty treat.

Thanks for the update

 

[terrysgirls322]

Hi again. Dot now seems back to her old self - well, in a way. She is still not eating pellets but is thriving on tuna, sardines, cheese, yoghurt, etc. I cleaned the coop yesterday and decided to see how she got on if I let her into the run with the others - disaster!!. The first thing she did was go up the ladder into the coop and explore - I could see her because I left off the door to the nest box. I live in England, 40 miles north-east of London, and my coop is an Omlet plastic one - I don't know if you know the company. Anyway after about ten minutes she came to the pophole and my warren hen, Poppy, (a Rhode Island Red crossed with something) met her at the top of the ladder. A bit of pecking at each other's comb and face and the two tumbled down the ladder and set about each other. I grabbed Dot and put her back into the crate. Then Poppy and my other Rhode Island Red cross tried to peck at Dot through the bars. Dot fought back. She was much more feisty than I expected as before her illness she hadn't seemed like this at all, but then, she hadn't been attacked. I have a light Sussex and a Comet, both white, and a small black hen, a something nero, and they didn't seem concerned about Dot. The long and short of it is, after having read several articles on BYC about re-integration, and experienced how vicious chickens can be to each other, I think Dot will have to live alone in order that she and maybe one or two of the others stay alive.

I have found a small second-hand coop, big enough for about three hens, with a run - I don't have the space to allow free range - and will put it within close sight and sound of the others. Also I will get her back on her pellet feed, which is necessary for her health and egg production - there have been no eggs for the three weeks she has been isolated, except for that one after two days.

I'm not sure what I will do with another sick hen, as I'm quite ok with caring for them when ill, but re-integration is a nightmare, and I don't want a series of small coops housing one hen each!! :-(. Hopefully, they won't get ill, but who knows. I think the experience has toughened me up a bit and much as I enjoy them etc I can distance myself a bit now and maybe deal with them more objectively, ie as chickens and not really pets. Your advice has been so helpful. Maybe we will chat again

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi again. Dot now seems back to her old self - well, in a way. She is still not eating pellets but is thriving on tuna, sardines, cheese, yoghurt, etc. I cleaned the coop yesterday and decided to see how she got on if I let her into the run with the others - disaster!!. The first thing she did was go up the ladder into the coop and explore - I could see her because I left off the door to the nest box. I live in England, 40 miles north-east of London, and my coop is an Omlet plastic one - I don't know if you know the company. Anyway after about ten minutes she came to the pophole and my warren hen, Poppy, (a Rhode Island Red crossed with something) met her at the top of the ladder. A bit of pecking at each other's comb and face and the two tumbled down the ladder and set about each other. I grabbed Dot and put her back into the crate. Then Poppy and my other Rhode Island Red cross tried to peck at Dot through the bars. Dot fought back. She was much more feisty than I expected as before her illness she hadn't seemed like this at all, but then, she hadn't been attacked. I have a light Sussex and a Comet, both white, and a small black hen, a something nero, and they didn't seem concerned about Dot. The long and short of it is, after having read several articles on BYC about re-integration, and experienced how vicious chickens can be to each other, I think Dot will have to live alone in order that she and maybe one or two of the others stay alive.

I have found a small second-hand coop, big enough for about three hens, with a run - I don't have the space to allow free range - and will put it within close sight and sound of the others. Also I will get her back on her pellet feed, which is necessary for her health and egg production - there have been no eggs for the three weeks she has been isolated, except for that one after two days.

I'm not sure what I will do with another sick hen, as I'm quite ok with caring for them when ill, but re-integration is a nightmare, and I don't want a series of small coops housing one hen each!! :-(. Hopefully, they won't get ill, but who knows. I think the experience has toughened me up a bit and much as I enjoy them etc I can distance myself a bit now and maybe deal with them more objectively, ie as chickens and not really pets. Your advice has been so helpful. Maybe we will chat again

I'm glad to hear she is doing well.

It does sound like she is able to defend herself so that is good, the sweet docile ones can surprise you - when pushed they can fight back much more fiercely than you would expect. I enjoyed your description of her integration encounter.

Having a separate coop sounds like a good "plan B". Since a few of the other girls didn't seem interested in her, you may have a couple of potential buddies to house her with. Some breeds are much more docile than others. I don't have RIR, but have seen some people say they can be aggressive - more than likely they are your 2 are top hens and were showing her that they were the bosses. Sometimes it can go too far, but some pecking and a few scuffles can be expected. If it's just one, then she may come out ok, but when they gang up, that can cause serious injury and sometimes death.

She may decide she never want to eat layer feed, I have always used an all flock formula for mine, if they even see a pellet, they start backing off

You may want to see if you have something like that available, just offer oyster shell free choice. You can also try chick starter - this will give her a more balanced nutrition - you can still give the sardines, tuna, etc as a treat or "stir in".

You have done very well in taking care of her

 

[terrysgirls322]

Hi. I have a small second coop, big enough for three hens, which I collected yesterday. It needs a pressure wash and the run needs to be put together but it should be ready for Dot by this evening. I'm guessing the best time to 'rehouse' her would be once it is dark. While it is not freezing cold at night all my hens except one roost on top of the coop and I have to put them inside for the night. The one that does go inside sits in the nest box until I her oust her and she then goes inside the coop. When it is cold in the winter two or three of them still roost on the top and wait to be put to bed. I'm hoping Dot will go inside by herself because the run to her coop is a low one so the only other way to get her in will be to entice her from the rear of the coop with a treat. She won't be able to roost on top because the run fits to the front. Hopefully she will start to eat all her food, and not just treats, once she has a proper coop and enough room to exercise and dust bathe. I'm still researching the feed you suggested.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the update. I hope it works out, keep us posted

 

[terrysgirls322]

Thanks for the update. I hope it works out, keep us posted

Further update. Dot settled well into her coop. A few days ago she had two consecutive days when she ate a whole cupful of her pellets and things seemed to be looking up. However yesterday she didn't touch them and this morning she has not eaten the sardine I gave her at 6am. It was in oil and not water as I could not get any of the latter so maybe that is the reason. The weather is rainy and dreary today after a couple of bright days and she is hunkered down in the run and does not seem interested in anything, so it seems she has taken a step back, which is very disappointing. She still needs her rear end cleaned every couple of days and I am wondering if her condition will ever clear up. I suspect this is distressing for her and it is certainly wearing for me as I seem to be constantly trying different things to make her well again. Hopefully she will improve.