I'm such a paranoid Chicken mum. I have two Belgians and one just started dropping handfuls of feathers, not quite 1 year old, at the beginning of winter.
She immediately stopped laying, still makes the 'I want to lay an egg' noise, but never does. I wondered if it was because I had suddenly changed from a Fodder store seed and grain mix to a 'layers pellet', which she did not like; however, after two weeks of noticing she was only picking out the seeds (but was told that if she is hungry, she will eat it), I changed back to the original mix and she still shows little interest. She ONLY wants to eat protein and will devour sunflower seeds and meal worms but shows no interest in her favourite treats, like cucumber and natural yoghurt or banana. She still has a decent amount of energy, but has moments where she just sits for a while fluffed up, then will get up and run around and dust bath, like normal. She doesn't seem to be drinking as much either and I have been trying to get her to drink, also using a syringe to encourage her (easier said than done).I have dusted her, I have tried to feel if she is egg bound, impacted crop, checked for mites, given her a warm bath (which freaked her out more than anything) etc....and I have noticed, although rare, she will put her head down and walk backward, which seems an involuntary action and was told this could be a nutritional deficiency (which makes sense). Is this JUST molting behaviour? or, should I try her on antibiotics?. Her droppings are dark, they still have the white urates, but are tiny and much drier than the usual chicken turd. She also holds one foot up, and I can't see any sores...although the pin feathers growing out on her feet look pretty nasty. It's been a couple of weeks since it all started, the feather loss has slowed but she still doesn't want to eat anything but protein. How do I encourage her to eat?...my poor little chooken.
She immediately stopped laying, still makes the 'I want to lay an egg' noise, but never does. I wondered if it was because I had suddenly changed from a Fodder store seed and grain mix to a 'layers pellet', which she did not like; however, after two weeks of noticing she was only picking out the seeds (but was told that if she is hungry, she will eat it), I changed back to the original mix and she still shows little interest. She ONLY wants to eat protein and will devour sunflower seeds and meal worms but shows no interest in her favourite treats, like cucumber and natural yoghurt or banana. She still has a decent amount of energy, but has moments where she just sits for a while fluffed up, then will get up and run around and dust bath, like normal. She doesn't seem to be drinking as much either and I have been trying to get her to drink, also using a syringe to encourage her (easier said than done).I have dusted her, I have tried to feel if she is egg bound, impacted crop, checked for mites, given her a warm bath (which freaked her out more than anything) etc....and I have noticed, although rare, she will put her head down and walk backward, which seems an involuntary action and was told this could be a nutritional deficiency (which makes sense). Is this JUST molting behaviour? or, should I try her on antibiotics?. Her droppings are dark, they still have the white urates, but are tiny and much drier than the usual chicken turd. She also holds one foot up, and I can't see any sores...although the pin feathers growing out on her feet look pretty nasty. It's been a couple of weeks since it all started, the feather loss has slowed but she still doesn't want to eat anything but protein. How do I encourage her to eat?...my poor little chooken.
