Bantam leghorn not doing well .....

[Gwiwer]

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Bantam leghorn, white, 2y 6m, 4lbs, has been a superb layer until recently. Has brooded once.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Has become docile when normally flighty and quiet instead of vocal EXCEPT that she has started crowing in the early morning. She does not crow any other time than first light. Spending a lot of time in the nest box panting. Not showing signs of brooding at all. Egg production down from 6 a week to to 1 or 2; eggs have always had an unusually rough surface and dull not shiny shells but internally are normal. Barely touching food or water and not scratching. When in the run she stands still for long periods instead of her previous flighty and ground-scratching behaviour.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Slow steady deterioration over 3 or 4 weeks.

4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
None

5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Has behaved aggressively to her sister who was sharing the run since sister brooded and hatched donated eggs. They are now in separate adjacent runs with sick hen in her normal home. Nothing else unusual.

6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Given usual feed of Layer Pellets, corn mix and shell grit plus green garden clippings and occasional tomatoes and melon seeds; has become less interested in food and is now barely eating.

7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Was runny for a day; firmed up after worming but is a bit sloppy again. Normal colour, no blood or egg.

8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Wormed, checked vent (clear), checked crop (good), eyes, nose, mouth all clear and good, all-over inspection revealed nothing unusual; generally seems in quite good condition. Have kept water clean and refreshed due to warmer weather (85F / 32C) which is normal here and which she has lived through happily before. Have sprayed her lightly with tepid water when panting in the nest which eases the panting. Our hens have plenty of shade and are not obliged to come out into full sun at any time.

9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Will self-treat but require advice as to possible cause and treatment suggestions.

10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Hen appears normal white bantam leghorn, no unusual markings, no excess dung at vent, comb bright and erect, tail up, wings held normally.

11) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Penned bird, not free range, currently alone in pen 10 feet long, 3 feet wide, 3 feet high with raised wooden nest box suitable for 3 - 4 hens. She is in a pen adjacent to and has continuous contact with her sister and two 8-week old chicks. Bedding is sugar cane mulch changed weekly or more often if needed which is the same as she has always had.

 

[chookchick]

Are you in Australia? or Hawaii? Sorry I don't have much to offer in insight, but I have to commend you on your EXCELLENT description of your hen and her condition. This is how every posting on EDI and C should look! Sounds like she may have some problems with the egg machinery that are catching up with her?

 

[Gwiwer]

Hi there. We're in Australia. The latest report is that the lady in question has perked up just a little after remembering to drink in warmer weather. They're not noted for brain-power, these chickens! However the underlying issues remain in that she crows at dawn just as loudly as a rooster and is off her food and is lethargic.

 

[chookchick]

My gut feeling for her is that she is lonely (even though her sister is next door). Crowing seems to be a way to call out to other chickens--"hey, I'm here". Is there any way you can get her another cage mate? Does she have plenty of room to share with her sister? Could they at least free-range together? The heat is probably not helping her feel any better either.

 

[Gwiwer]

We have tried to re-integrate her sister, who was only moved out after her chicks were attacked by the poorly hen, with no success. They can sometimes agree to work different areas of the run but they haven't settled the sleeping arrangements. There is always "biffo at bedtime" which has resulted in the chicks being picked up in the beak by the poorly hen and evicted from the nest box. She is allowed to assert herself at the top of the order but not to threaten little lives.

We cannot allow ours to free-range as there are too many wandering cats in the area and foxes have been seen to visit. As well we prefer to keep our vegetable crops to ourselves and let the them have the trimmings and root bowls rather than grow beds of veggies only to have them become chicken food.

We may have a solution of sorts. As one of the chicks is a rooster and has just started to exercise his little crowing voice his days in the backyard are numbered. He will return to the egg donor who has much more land and who is also willing to take on our crowing hen in exchange for another 10-week old buffy pekin to match the one we are keeping.

It's not ideal but it could mean the difference between peace, quiet and harmony (plus not offending the neighbours) and the untenable early demise of a named pet.

 

[Gwiwer]

For the benefit of anyone following this topic our hen has recovered from the lethargy and squishy poop without further treatment. She is eating normally. She is still aggressive towards the rest of the flock, still crows at first light and is now engaging in crowing contests with our 9-week old roo chick in the adjacent pen. Neither has a great voice!

Both are going to be removed from the backyard at the weekend to a farm where their natural exuberance won't matter and where they can integrate (or not) as part of a much larger mixed flock. We have been reluctant to split up our sister hens whom we have raised from 8 weeks old but with one continuing to behave aggressively and crowing into the deal we were not left with too many options.

We have had leghorn bantams before and always found them to be noisy, flighty and, while they are terrific layers, they don't make great suburban backyard birds simply because they are rather vocal. One of the last generation became a crower as well and it's been suggested to us that the breed might be genetically-predisposed to nervous energy which can manifest itself in this and other behaviours. The previous crower sadly suffered a heart attack one morning and was found lying in the run where she fell.

 

[naked_heels]

Puffing up and no appetite? maybe Coccidiosis? Do you have any Amprol or Duramycin? mix 1tsp/gal of water do that for 5days.

 

[Gwiwer]

Not Coccidiosis. She was almost her old self by Monday evening when we removed her from the pen and took her to her new home. I still have no real idea what caused her deterioration and how she came to recover without treatment. Some things it seems must remain a mystery, or perhaps "What happens in the pen stays in the pen".

So one adult hen and one 9-week old cockerel have gone to a new life and the backyard is quieter for it. We left them sorting out their new order among perhaps 50 other birds where they have lots of room and the morning music doesn't matter. The rest of the flock are now quietly adjusting including the brood mother who is obviously a bit put out at losing one of her hatchlings.