RebeccaS2010
Chirping
We have a blue Americana whose behavior has changed dramatically since yesterday. I noticed last night she was roosting up on a piece of wood in the run instead of in the coop, but it was early evening, so I don’t know if she moved later or stayed out. When I opened the door to let them free range this morning, she didn’t come out with the others. She hung back in the run then reluctantly went out after everyone else had left. She’s typically active, but today she’s been standing around with her head tucked in and wings a bit droopy.
Over the past week, all 5 of our adult hens have basically stopped laying, but it’s probably been closer to 10 days since she’s laid. Based on their age and the fact there are a LOT of feathers on the ground in the run, I’m assuming they are starting their first real molting. (They started laying at the end of last summer and haven’t stopped since.) Some of the feathers do look like hers, but she doesn’t look very tattered. Could molting cause her to act so depressed?
I will say the flock has been through a lot of upheaval in the past month. We lost 13 birds including our rooster, 4 weeks ago today in a predator attack. We added 6 three month old pullets to the mix, but everyone seems to be getting along, and this hen is solidly in the middle of the pecking order of the adults. We also purchased some chicks, then dealt with an outbreak of coccidiosis in them. As a precaution, we treated our adult flock with CORID along with the babies in case it spread to the brooder through cross contamination. This hen and the rest of the flock have finished the dosage for severe outbreak and are on day 2 of the lower follow up dosage. Since it’s a mixed age flock, we are feeding chick starter/grower, with supplemental oyster shell and scratch grains.
Thoughts? Is different behavior normal for molting or am I just being paranoid?
Over the past week, all 5 of our adult hens have basically stopped laying, but it’s probably been closer to 10 days since she’s laid. Based on their age and the fact there are a LOT of feathers on the ground in the run, I’m assuming they are starting their first real molting. (They started laying at the end of last summer and haven’t stopped since.) Some of the feathers do look like hers, but she doesn’t look very tattered. Could molting cause her to act so depressed?
I will say the flock has been through a lot of upheaval in the past month. We lost 13 birds including our rooster, 4 weeks ago today in a predator attack. We added 6 three month old pullets to the mix, but everyone seems to be getting along, and this hen is solidly in the middle of the pecking order of the adults. We also purchased some chicks, then dealt with an outbreak of coccidiosis in them. As a precaution, we treated our adult flock with CORID along with the babies in case it spread to the brooder through cross contamination. This hen and the rest of the flock have finished the dosage for severe outbreak and are on day 2 of the lower follow up dosage. Since it’s a mixed age flock, we are feeding chick starter/grower, with supplemental oyster shell and scratch grains.
Thoughts? Is different behavior normal for molting or am I just being paranoid?
