Solanacae
Crowing
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Mosaic/Wyandotte cross, 8 months old. She is a stout bird, but has always been. I would guess about 7 lbs. Her weight has not changed so far as I can tell.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. She is acting normally, but has started laying sporadically. She started laying in October, and usually lays 2-3 days in a row, then skips a day. This month so far, she has laid 4 eggs: 1/2, 1/3, 1/5, and 1/7. She has a tendency to get poop stuck on her feathers, which I trimmed a month ago to see if it would help, because she has a very fluffy butt. It helped some, but did not solve the problem entirely. Today I trimmed some more just to get the poop off. Shortly before I took her inside to get her feathers trimmed, she pooped, and the poop was regularly colored but bubbly and more watery than what I am used to seeing.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? See above answer
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No, not to my knowledge. I haven’t seen any other weird poops. Those that are laying are doing so normally.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. The only thing I can think of is that I had been fermenting some whole grain feed, which I use to supplement with the pellets they have free access to all the time. I stopped fermenting because we were going to be gone on several occasions visiting family during the holidays and didn’t want to make things complicated for the lady who would be checking on the flock while I was gone. I have not restarted fermenting yet.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Nutrena Feather Fixer 18% protein pellets (I have a few older hens that are still finishing up their molt, I started feeding this in October), plain water, a small amount of wheat/black oil sunflower seed/pea scratch (about 1/2 c shared among 10 hens) which I throw out most days, and access to the compost pile where I throw my fruit/vegetable scraps. She has free access to grit and oyster shell/egg shells.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Color is normal, but more watery and has bubbles.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I haven’t tried anything yet. She does not act egg bound, and when I palpated her abdomen, it felt normal. Her color is normal.
10 ) 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? I’m hoping this can be resolved without a vet visit.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. See attached pic of poop. I have also included a pic of the bird in question - please keep in mind that she has fibromelanistic genes, and her comb color for most birds would indicate a problem. This, however, is her normal comb color.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use 80”x108” coop, with hardware cloth covered openings all along the top for ventilation. Roosts are approx. 2.25’ off the floor. 4 nesting boxes near the floor. Feeder and heated waterer (both have a snug lid) are in the coop. No supplemental heat or light. Nighttime lows have ranged between 9-30 degrees the past few weeks, daytime highs are between 20-38 degrees. Wood shavings below the roosting boards, straw and wood shavings on the floor of the coop. They have access to a large run, part of which is covered.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. She is acting normally, but has started laying sporadically. She started laying in October, and usually lays 2-3 days in a row, then skips a day. This month so far, she has laid 4 eggs: 1/2, 1/3, 1/5, and 1/7. She has a tendency to get poop stuck on her feathers, which I trimmed a month ago to see if it would help, because she has a very fluffy butt. It helped some, but did not solve the problem entirely. Today I trimmed some more just to get the poop off. Shortly before I took her inside to get her feathers trimmed, she pooped, and the poop was regularly colored but bubbly and more watery than what I am used to seeing.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? See above answer
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No, not to my knowledge. I haven’t seen any other weird poops. Those that are laying are doing so normally.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. The only thing I can think of is that I had been fermenting some whole grain feed, which I use to supplement with the pellets they have free access to all the time. I stopped fermenting because we were going to be gone on several occasions visiting family during the holidays and didn’t want to make things complicated for the lady who would be checking on the flock while I was gone. I have not restarted fermenting yet.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Nutrena Feather Fixer 18% protein pellets (I have a few older hens that are still finishing up their molt, I started feeding this in October), plain water, a small amount of wheat/black oil sunflower seed/pea scratch (about 1/2 c shared among 10 hens) which I throw out most days, and access to the compost pile where I throw my fruit/vegetable scraps. She has free access to grit and oyster shell/egg shells.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Color is normal, but more watery and has bubbles.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I haven’t tried anything yet. She does not act egg bound, and when I palpated her abdomen, it felt normal. Her color is normal.
10 ) 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? I’m hoping this can be resolved without a vet visit.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. See attached pic of poop. I have also included a pic of the bird in question - please keep in mind that she has fibromelanistic genes, and her comb color for most birds would indicate a problem. This, however, is her normal comb color.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use 80”x108” coop, with hardware cloth covered openings all along the top for ventilation. Roosts are approx. 2.25’ off the floor. 4 nesting boxes near the floor. Feeder and heated waterer (both have a snug lid) are in the coop. No supplemental heat or light. Nighttime lows have ranged between 9-30 degrees the past few weeks, daytime highs are between 20-38 degrees. Wood shavings below the roosting boards, straw and wood shavings on the floor of the coop. They have access to a large run, part of which is covered.
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