Hi all, I think I might have a sick girl. Please let me know what you think. Ive looked through the forums and found some others with some of the same issues, but not all of them are alike. I have 6 hens, 3 barred rocks and 3 golden comets, which have grown up together since birth. They are 8 months old. They used to free range in our fenced in back yard but with 6 children (and all their friends), the fence was left open occasionally and that became almost a disaster several times with the neighborhood dogs. I was able to get to the dog and stop him from eating my hens twice. This happened a month ago. They hang out with my boxer all day so they didnt know to run from the dog I guess. They were scared after the attacks, but unhurt. Unfortunately, we finally broke down and built a large coop to keep them in for their safety. I was so worried they would hate to be in there but they actually started laying their eggs in there before we were even done. The indoor area is 8x10 with 4 nesting boxes and an 8 foot roost. There are 2 windows that have screens I can open up during the day and a storm door that also has a screen, though I am leaving the door open during the day at the moment because we havent cut a chicken door in it yet! I dont close it until they are all up on their roost and I open it early in the morning when it is just starting to lighten up, before they get off their roost. There is water available always inside. The covered outdoor screened area is 6x8 with fresh food (layer pellets) and water always available. There is also oyster shell and grit mixed in the food as well as spread on the ground. I feed them treats (black sunflower seeds and leftovers
cut up apples, strawberries, bread, macc and cheese, oats, etc) daily, in the morning and late afternoon. The other day I actually bought some earth worms for them as a snack which they LOVED. It was like children in a candy store! I also give them garden scraps (plants to play with) that they love as well as leaves from plants and some grass cuttings from our backyard that they have always enjoyed when they were free ranging. They have been in their new home since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and all seemed well. Their egg production was great over the summer but has slowed down because its just that time here in Georgia. We used to get anywhere from 5-6 eggs a day and now we are getting 2-3 (only my golden comets are still laying). Normal. My concern is with Cinderella, one of our barred rocks. Shes about the 3rd biggest in our family. Her comb looks paler than the other girls. I noticed it 5 days ago. Her legs seem a big rougher than the others and also paler. She is missing feathers around her neck. The feather shafts are still there but you can see her skin through the shafts. Her skin is not red or inflamed. She is also missing her tail feathers (just the long ones). She is not missing feathers around her vent (which seems to be the usual favorite pecking feather area in a lot of other posts) and she has no wounds anywhere. I have looked and cant see any mites or fleas. She seems to be the bottom of the pecking order. She is eating and drinking fine but will run from the other girls if they want what she has
though not always. She actually pecked at Peep today when she tried to take an apple piece from her. I stayed out there for 2 hours today just sitting in the coop watching them. No one seems to be pulling her feathers out (while Im there). All the poop in the coop looks normal, as normal as chicken poo can be
no blood, not watery and no worms. She is acting fine in the sense that she walks around with everyone, pecks at the ground, fluffs her feathers, stretches her wings, and is holding her head up like the rest and talking as well. She is acting just like everyone else there. She roosts with everyone too. She just seems to be the shy one in the group (not with me
she jumped on my shoulder as did several of them while I was sitting and watching them today). I am using no scent bedding (aspen or pine
cant remember). I use very fine in the nesting boxes and a bit larger on the ground. The nesting boxes have a lot of bedding which the girls seem to like since they have laid eggs in everyone of them. The ground in their coop is natural (dirt/sand). I cover the ground completely with bedding. I have deeper bedding in the indoors than I do outside. I clean their roost and "poop scoop" daily. I put fresh stuff out every other day or daily if needed. I also clean it out completely every 3-4 days unless it needs it sooner. If it rains I will clean it out after the rain stops so they wont have a wet ground. The inside doesnt get wet. It was actually snowing (if you can call it that) this past Saturday and has been a bit colder lately. OK
I have rambled enough. I do that sometimes. I hope I gave you all the information you need. Thanks so much.
I ADDED PICTURES... SEE NEXT POST PLEASE
I ADDED PICTURES... SEE NEXT POST PLEASE
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