Goldie is 9 years old and has always had a strong personality. We've recently had two stressors-- adding young pullets to what had been a flock of just Goldie and her BFF (also 9); and beastly hot weather.
At first, when her comb became pale, I attributed it to heat stress. They have shade all day, and ample water including water that has constantly melting ice to keep it cool. On the worst days there were icy pans of water to stand in and frozen fruit treats. At night there are fans in the coop. Still, pretty beastly.
A couple weeks later, I noticed that she'd sort of stay away from the others. Sometimes she was laying (upright) but in a different area from the rest and sometimes just wandering around. Her BFF on the other hand has bonded with the new girls and is thriving. Then Goldie went from being the FIRST to come for treats or feed, to coming slower... and the last 2-3 days she was not interested in grapes which are a favorite. Still each morning she looked pretty good, and would eat special toppings (worms, seeds, nuts) as well as her feed. She would be a bit droopy by late afternoon. She seems to have lost all but 2 tail feathers which makes me think molting but the rest of her feather look normal. They all eat Klambach 18% Chick Starter reserve. They tend to pick out the big bits and leave crumble. I usually top with some worms/grubs and sunflower seeds.
The last two mornings, and again tonight I got her to eat a bit of scrambled egg. But tonight I had to give it to her on the roost and sort of chase the others away. For about 10 days, she seems to hide her head and neck under her BFF on the roost. This morning all the others were on the floor-- Goldie still on the roost but she did jump right down when I opened the door. The poop under her spot on the roost looks fine.
She feels like she may have lost a little weight but her weight is still good because she's a big heavy hen. Her comb looks sad, her expression is sort of dull. She's normally a BIG personality. I checked her butt, and it's reasonably clean, not caked with poop. She had a bath last week because she was poopy, and I saw no signs of parasites. She's eating, just not as food oriented as normal.
Today she was upright all day, but moving almost in slow motion like she was very tired. She almost lost her balance coming up the ramp to the coop and had to use a wing for a second. High temps the last few days are <90, lows overnight about 70. So it's not beastly. We've had some rain/storms so it's humid but a couple weeks ago it was 105 heat index day after day, so this is not bad. I was giving electrolyte/vitamin water but when temps moderated I switched to clear water.
She does not seem sick enough to cage and bring away from the others. But she's not right either so maybe I should? I'm encouraged that I'm getting her to eat scrambled egg and that she recovers somewhat overnight.
Nutridrench? vitamin B? back to electrolytes? I figure this is probably heat stress/old age/molting though it does seem to be just a partial molt? Or, it could be she's succumbing to old age but I sure hope not, she's pretty special to me.
I've attached pictures-- she does not look pathetic except for her scant tail feathers and that comb. It's much paler during the day, and regains some pinkness at night. These were taken after she'd been asleep on the roost for a couple hours. Mostly normal poops, but she did let go one really wet squirt while I was there. In pictures with TWO of them she's the darker hen.
Thoughts?
@Wyorp Rock, @Eggcessive @azygous in case any of you are around
At first, when her comb became pale, I attributed it to heat stress. They have shade all day, and ample water including water that has constantly melting ice to keep it cool. On the worst days there were icy pans of water to stand in and frozen fruit treats. At night there are fans in the coop. Still, pretty beastly.
A couple weeks later, I noticed that she'd sort of stay away from the others. Sometimes she was laying (upright) but in a different area from the rest and sometimes just wandering around. Her BFF on the other hand has bonded with the new girls and is thriving. Then Goldie went from being the FIRST to come for treats or feed, to coming slower... and the last 2-3 days she was not interested in grapes which are a favorite. Still each morning she looked pretty good, and would eat special toppings (worms, seeds, nuts) as well as her feed. She would be a bit droopy by late afternoon. She seems to have lost all but 2 tail feathers which makes me think molting but the rest of her feather look normal. They all eat Klambach 18% Chick Starter reserve. They tend to pick out the big bits and leave crumble. I usually top with some worms/grubs and sunflower seeds.
The last two mornings, and again tonight I got her to eat a bit of scrambled egg. But tonight I had to give it to her on the roost and sort of chase the others away. For about 10 days, she seems to hide her head and neck under her BFF on the roost. This morning all the others were on the floor-- Goldie still on the roost but she did jump right down when I opened the door. The poop under her spot on the roost looks fine.
She feels like she may have lost a little weight but her weight is still good because she's a big heavy hen. Her comb looks sad, her expression is sort of dull. She's normally a BIG personality. I checked her butt, and it's reasonably clean, not caked with poop. She had a bath last week because she was poopy, and I saw no signs of parasites. She's eating, just not as food oriented as normal.
Today she was upright all day, but moving almost in slow motion like she was very tired. She almost lost her balance coming up the ramp to the coop and had to use a wing for a second. High temps the last few days are <90, lows overnight about 70. So it's not beastly. We've had some rain/storms so it's humid but a couple weeks ago it was 105 heat index day after day, so this is not bad. I was giving electrolyte/vitamin water but when temps moderated I switched to clear water.
She does not seem sick enough to cage and bring away from the others. But she's not right either so maybe I should? I'm encouraged that I'm getting her to eat scrambled egg and that she recovers somewhat overnight.
Nutridrench? vitamin B? back to electrolytes? I figure this is probably heat stress/old age/molting though it does seem to be just a partial molt? Or, it could be she's succumbing to old age but I sure hope not, she's pretty special to me.
I've attached pictures-- she does not look pathetic except for her scant tail feathers and that comb. It's much paler during the day, and regains some pinkness at night. These were taken after she'd been asleep on the roost for a couple hours. Mostly normal poops, but she did let go one really wet squirt while I was there. In pictures with TWO of them she's the darker hen.
Thoughts?
@Wyorp Rock, @Eggcessive @azygous in case any of you are around
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