bone sticking out and confused

[chickhan]

oh and the hens are roughly 2-3months old.the roo is bigger not sure on his age.

 

[chickhan]

oh and they feed on layers pellets, abit of grass and they like to peck the straw don't think they eat it though.

 

[Judy]

Why are they on layer pellets if they are 2-3 months old? They need grower til they start laying, then they will need layer plus oyster shell offered on the side. They are getting too much calcium and not enough protein on the layer at this age.

I have no idea if this has anything to do with what happened, though.

 

[Judy]

Is the roo mating them, or trying to? Does he jump on their backs while grabbing them by the neck? You said you weren't sure of his age. If he is trying to mate them, they are too young, and you need to separate him til they are laying well.

 

[chickhan]

we put them on layers because that was the feed wewere recommended but thanks for the help i shall go to the food store today and change it. one of my friends has turkeys an chickens and he told us that he used layers at that age apparently so we followed his advice as we were new to this. the roo does grab th neck feathers but has not trid as of yet to get on their backs. its difficult as we did not get much information on the chickens hence struggling with age and breed. thanks for the information though it is a big help. as i said we are new to the chicken world and just following other people's advice. i shall change the feed and wll have to build a seperate pen for the roo. han

 

[tulie13]

Hey, chickhan - this place has TONS of info on it, and lots of helpful people. I agree with the others - a fall from one foot in height should not have done this, at that age mine were flapping UP 2+ feet.

If the roost has anything to do with this, I'd guess the roost may have fallen ON the chicken to cause this much damage. Or someone accidentally shut the bird in your coop door and didn't tell you. Or someone kicked it. This is NOT from falling one foot. If the roost fell before and MIGHT have done this, you need to make sure it doesn't fall again - has it been secured?

If you want to post some pictures in the "What Breed or Gender Am I" section, we might be able to help you identify your birds. Then you can learn more about the breeds and what to expect (final size, egg-laying, friendliness, etc.)

Sorry for your loss.

Post ANY questions you have (What should I feed? Do I have enough room? is this a good setup?) under appropriate forum boards and you will usually get lots of good, helpful answers.

Attaching pics can really help, particularly in the What Breed or Gender area. I can't remember exactly how to do it, but I know there is a post on the boards (I think it's in the What Breed or Gender board) that tells you how.

 

[chickhan]

thanks i'll try get some pictures today. the perch has been re-enforced now. i just had a call from the person got the cickens from and he's unsure if he could have caused the injury when he handled it but it still remains a mystery. thank you everyone for the help just really upsetthat it was my fav. hen but there is another quite similar that would not come to me before but did so this morning. thank you everyone i guess i shall just keep a closer eye on them and get some pic's so that we can try to find out the breeds. han

 

[LynneP]

I suspect something panicked this bird, or perhaps the entire flock and she flung herself on something. Check the coop and run for sign of this, such as feathers, and reassure yourself by lowering any roost you believe to be dangerously high. If you think something is panicking the birds outside your run, you have the option of installing wind/snow boards to make the birds feel safer. We use them in winter only, but if I had a predator stalking, I'd put them up year round.

I'm so sorry you lost her, I know you are very worried about your birds and wish to solve this puzzle.

 

[chickhan]

it may have been. i ws told that it woud take some force to cause the injury though and so i'm taking all precautions now thanks everyone. i do have one other question...is theinjury that occured in the hen common? i had a look at the same breed because i have another and this bird has roughly the same bone sticking out but not as much and that seems relatively happy still eating drinking and perfectly fine. i'm keeping a close eye on it even as i write this. none of the other breeds seem to have the problem i have checked them all. so could it be the breed or a bone disease through the breed? or is it that common that it has occured twice?the one with the same bone prblem recently had a broken foot but we healed it and i did not notice the bone then. there was another conclusion that a friend of mine put forward although i am not sure... they said that maybe they aren't eating as much because the others are bullying them? i dn't know but i am putting in as many precautions as i can.
han

 

[LynneP]

Sounds like rotten luck. Your friend may have a good suggestion about the feeding though- I find that if I provide feed in several spots the ones lower on the pecking order get a chance to eat more.