trottreacle
In the Brooder
- Sep 9, 2024
- 24
- 20
- 26
Hello all,
I posted yesterday regarding noticing my hen had some feathers stuck to her beak. When I removed them, her nose was snotty and stank really bad. Obviously this was a concern so I cleaned her beak up as best I could and put some vetRx around her face and popped her back to bed. Crop had food in it before I popped her to bed.
Woke up early to feel her crop which had emptied as normal. Her beak wasn't too gunky but her breath still smelled pretty bad. I let her eat without the others so she could get what she wanted and she was eating fine. Also poop was perfectly normal.
It has been extremely cold and wet the last week, we had a cold snap out of the blue and when I returned yesterday from my trip, the hens feeder was massively impacted by gross wet, disgusting food which obviously hadn't been cleaned out. I had been away for the weekend and left a friend to look after my hens. I always leave clear instructions so was upset to see my hens had been eating from the glob of spoiled food.
This was the same hen that unfortunately got kicked out of the coop for a night and wild roosted, this was the first day we had a super cold snap. So she spent a whole night outside in the bitter cold too, luckily she returned for breakfast.
I've only had her a week so obviously there has been stress from the move, and then her wild roosing night, and the moldy food situation so obviously lots of stress for the little one.
I have kept a very close eye on her today, unfortunately it has been raining non stop and is quite cold so I haven't been able to encourage her to come out of her sheltered spots very often but she did wander into the house so I had the opportunity to offer her some corn, some natural yoghurt, and some raw garlic. I also cleaned out their house and put all fresh dry bedding in.
Later when the hens were all hanging out together I was watching her closely. She was huddled down and looked like she was trying to have a little snooze, but every so often would lift her beak and open her mouth as if to take a breath, like she was struggling, and also occasionally making the drinking motion as if she was swallowing....maybe the snot/mucus.
When they went to bed I bought her inside to clean her nostrils up for the night and to put some more vetRx on her beak and face. When I cleaned the nostrils they had some build up, I did notice the smell had reduced quite a bit so that's positive and lends me to believe it might be something fungal from the moldy food? But I don't know. I also checked inside her mouth, all looks completely normal, she is still active and ate throughout the day, he crop wasn't overly full. Her eyes are clear.
I am just wondering what the best cause of action would be for tomorrow. I can bring her in to the warm and to have a rest day isolated but I feel this might stress her out more, especially on top of the overly stressful week she has had already. Tomorrow looks wet again until midday.
So my questions for anybody today...
Does this sound like a reaction from moldy food? Any advice for that moving forward
Should I bring her in tomorrow?
Honestly, any advice is hugely welcome x
I posted yesterday regarding noticing my hen had some feathers stuck to her beak. When I removed them, her nose was snotty and stank really bad. Obviously this was a concern so I cleaned her beak up as best I could and put some vetRx around her face and popped her back to bed. Crop had food in it before I popped her to bed.
Woke up early to feel her crop which had emptied as normal. Her beak wasn't too gunky but her breath still smelled pretty bad. I let her eat without the others so she could get what she wanted and she was eating fine. Also poop was perfectly normal.
It has been extremely cold and wet the last week, we had a cold snap out of the blue and when I returned yesterday from my trip, the hens feeder was massively impacted by gross wet, disgusting food which obviously hadn't been cleaned out. I had been away for the weekend and left a friend to look after my hens. I always leave clear instructions so was upset to see my hens had been eating from the glob of spoiled food.
This was the same hen that unfortunately got kicked out of the coop for a night and wild roosted, this was the first day we had a super cold snap. So she spent a whole night outside in the bitter cold too, luckily she returned for breakfast.
I've only had her a week so obviously there has been stress from the move, and then her wild roosing night, and the moldy food situation so obviously lots of stress for the little one.
I have kept a very close eye on her today, unfortunately it has been raining non stop and is quite cold so I haven't been able to encourage her to come out of her sheltered spots very often but she did wander into the house so I had the opportunity to offer her some corn, some natural yoghurt, and some raw garlic. I also cleaned out their house and put all fresh dry bedding in.
Later when the hens were all hanging out together I was watching her closely. She was huddled down and looked like she was trying to have a little snooze, but every so often would lift her beak and open her mouth as if to take a breath, like she was struggling, and also occasionally making the drinking motion as if she was swallowing....maybe the snot/mucus.
When they went to bed I bought her inside to clean her nostrils up for the night and to put some more vetRx on her beak and face. When I cleaned the nostrils they had some build up, I did notice the smell had reduced quite a bit so that's positive and lends me to believe it might be something fungal from the moldy food? But I don't know. I also checked inside her mouth, all looks completely normal, she is still active and ate throughout the day, he crop wasn't overly full. Her eyes are clear.
I am just wondering what the best cause of action would be for tomorrow. I can bring her in to the warm and to have a rest day isolated but I feel this might stress her out more, especially on top of the overly stressful week she has had already. Tomorrow looks wet again until midday.
So my questions for anybody today...
Does this sound like a reaction from moldy food? Any advice for that moving forward
Should I bring her in tomorrow?
Honestly, any advice is hugely welcome x
