- May 19, 2010
- 5
- 0
- 7
I have a one year old buff orpington laying hen unconscious. She was just laying outside in the chicken tractor, on her side, leg bent in an unnatural position as though she just fainted. She has no symptoms outwardly. All of our orpingtons are so fluffy that we did not notice she was losing weight. When we were just now examining her, I found that she has no meat on her body--she's completely skeletal with just fluffy feathers. She is not egg-bound and there no discoloration of any part of her body. All of her feathers are in tact, and just a few days ago she was wandering around in the grass apparently okay. In retrospect, I believe she has been fairly docile her whole young life. The only difference between her and her sisters is this: all of their combs have sprouted and grown and hers has not.
I do not know of any way to save her at this point, so if anyone knows, please let me know. I am very concerned about the other chickens. We have 3 more orpingtons--her sisters--and 4 sexlinks. I have been researching all the different avian diseases, and many of them list ematiation as a symptom. It's just overwhelming.
Their living quarters are a typical chicken tractor, tin roof and sides, chicken-wire front and we can slide the tin on the roof back on nice days to fill half the area with sunshine. We move them around the yard about every four or five days, as they run out of fresh grass. They are fed oyster shells and chicken crumble or chicken pellets, and have both available with fresh water every day. They do "unfreshen" their water very quickly, though.
For treats, they get fresh vegetable or fruit scraps, like apples. They also occasionally get a slice of Ezekiel bread, a flourless bread with lots of grains and seeds. Sometimes, they also get brown rice (thoroughly cooked, of course) as a treat if we have any leftover from dinner.
This is how the chickens have been raised for an entire year, and this is the first illness we have seen. What do you think happened? Are the other chickens at risk? What about humans and dogs? Any advice would be helpful.
Thank you.
~~Amy.
I do not know of any way to save her at this point, so if anyone knows, please let me know. I am very concerned about the other chickens. We have 3 more orpingtons--her sisters--and 4 sexlinks. I have been researching all the different avian diseases, and many of them list ematiation as a symptom. It's just overwhelming.
Their living quarters are a typical chicken tractor, tin roof and sides, chicken-wire front and we can slide the tin on the roof back on nice days to fill half the area with sunshine. We move them around the yard about every four or five days, as they run out of fresh grass. They are fed oyster shells and chicken crumble or chicken pellets, and have both available with fresh water every day. They do "unfreshen" their water very quickly, though.
For treats, they get fresh vegetable or fruit scraps, like apples. They also occasionally get a slice of Ezekiel bread, a flourless bread with lots of grains and seeds. Sometimes, they also get brown rice (thoroughly cooked, of course) as a treat if we have any leftover from dinner.
This is how the chickens have been raised for an entire year, and this is the first illness we have seen. What do you think happened? Are the other chickens at risk? What about humans and dogs? Any advice would be helpful.
Thank you.
~~Amy.
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