Any insight?

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

I have a hen who is eating very little of her kibble or anything else but wants to eat her feathers. She's inside, in our basement since Thursday. She was refusing to eat all day and the temps were way too cold for her to be outside in them.

Since then we've given her rooster booster vitamin, electrolytes and probiotics.. she has had some food but not a lot. She had a bowl of soupy mash Friday, and after that she just ate here and there. She had a lot of her water on Friday. She is still pecking, scratching, alert.

To her bowl of food she beak swipes it or scratches it. She seems to prefer to eat from the ground but she still only eats very minimal? We did an Epsom soak as well.

She's pooping, sometimes they are normal and bigger some are very small but normal brown/green and some are just foamy green/yellow.

Any ideas what is going on with her?

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have a hen who is eating very little of her kibble or anything else but wants to eat her feathers. She's inside, in our basement since Thursday. She was refusing to eat all day and the temps were way too cold for her to be outside in them.

Since then we've given her rooster booster vitamin, electrolytes and probiotics.. she has had some food but not a lot. She had a bowl of soupy mash Friday, and after that she just ate here and there. She had a lot of her water on Friday. She is still pecking, scratching, alert.

To her bowl of food she beak swipes it or scratches it. She seems to prefer to eat from the ground but she still only eats very minimal? We did an Epsom soak as well.

She's pooping, sometimes they are normal and bigger some are very small but normal brown/green and some are just foamy green/yellow.

Any ideas what is going on with her?

What's her normal diet?
Feather eating is an indicator of needing more protein in the diet.

Also pictures of the bird, & poop are always handy.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

Her normal feed is 20% Kalmbach grower feed, and we were giving cluck & co scratch grains in evenings for the cold weather.

She doesn't want to eat scrambled eggs either.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

What's her normal diet?
Feather eating is an indicator of needing more protein in the diet.

Also pictures of the bird, & poop are always handy.

Also when we present certain foods to her she shakes her head like "no" and does a beak click/grind motion.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

A lengthy video but you can see how she shakes her head and sometimes has a clicking sound when moving her head around.

 

[MysteryChicken]

A lengthy video but you can see how she shakes her head and sometimes has a clicking sound when moving her head around.

She appears to be being picky. She gave the feed a couple small pecks, then she flung it away. I've dealt with picky eaters, & have successfully corrected most, some can't be corrected, & eventually starve themselves to death.

Have you tried making her feed into a wet mash?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Her normal feed is 20% Kalmbach grower feed, and we were giving cluck & co scratch grains in evenings for the cold weather.

She doesn't want to eat scrambled eggs either.

Cut out the scratch for awhile. It seems to be making her picky about the normal feed based on your video.

Scratch isn't very beneficial when it's cold really, it's pretty much just candy too them. The only thing that helps is digestion, it's what keeps them warm.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Also when we present certain foods to her she shakes her head like "no" and does a beak click/grind motion.

The motion she makes is her checking to see if it's what she wants.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

I haven't given her scratch since Wednesday. She stopped refusing scratch. She's only had access to her normal feed since Thursday. Yes. She had an entire bowl of very soup mash Friday morning but not much since.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I haven't given her scratch since Wednesday. She stopped refusing scratch. She's only had access to her normal feed since Thursday. Yes. She had an entire bowl of very soup mash Friday morning but not much since.

Good the scratch has been removed.
Sometimes they prefer it to be more like oatmeal, Sometimes a pasty consistency. A raw egg on top, or mixed in the mash helps restore their appetite for their feed. This would be an every other day thing though.

Egg on top of dry helps too. Eventually they start eating the feed without egg shortly after realizing they don't get an egg everytime, & eat normally.