Bullying, Bathing, Runts, and Handling Hens

[Messipaw]

Morgan
Dylan
Danni (danielle)
Sam
Sammi
Toni

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Best wishes with your rooster choices. Some roosters are so great that once you've had them you'll never put up with a nasty one no matter how handsome he is, lol. It pays to not underestimate the intelligence and awareness chickens can possess. People make all kinds of excuses for them, but they are a lot sharper than often credited.

Feathered feet are cool, I agree. Initially I wanted to breed them out because despite their appeal, I worried about the potential for illness and injury and impacted feather stubs because birds don't often like wet feet and chooks dig a lot; but my banties coped fine with their fluffy feet and the babies seem to prefer (in winter) mothers that have fluffy feet, since they stand on the mum's feet to warm up... So now I don't breed the fluffy feet out. I have one chook called 'Boots' --- she has shelves that stick out up to three inches sideways from her feet, lol! Her dad was a completely featherless one genetically too, and her mum never had such long feathering. It's like some of the Brahma photos on breed standard quality birds; the amount of foot feathering is extreme.

I've been developing my own dual purpose breed, which is great fun, and you wouldn't believe all the incredible and beautiful color and pattern combinations you can get. There is no limit. I've got no taste for keeping plain old purebreds anymore, lol. Not same-color ones anyway, too homogenous for me. I think, actually, I would keep some heritage ones, possibly silver dorkings and the likes, no same/self-color ones, but I'd use the offspring they produce that aren't true enough to type to cross into my own breed to maintain partridge color/patterning, etc.

I think a lot of the purebred keepers often lose sight of the fact that new breeds are also a legitimate and worthwhile pursuit; rather than just preserving old genetics and refining newer ones into the same appearance and traits, it is a good thing to allow genetically 'plastic' new breeds to emerge which are better suited to the new world we live in. Particularly in Australia I think this is important. We have Australorps etc but there's room for new breeds. I've always enjoyed breeding animals and seeing how genes interact, and shaping the next generation. I think you'll enjoy it too. I highly recommend mix breeds, I know a lot of people find them exasperating because you don't have any guarantees of results but that's part of what I like about them. More fun than breeding a black chook with a black chook and getting... black chooks.

 

[Farmer Viola]

those are all great names, thank you! More photos, I am chicken obsessed...!!

everybody free ranging





Runty "snacksize" closeup, she does not look 19wk



"WOTS ALL THIS THEN?!" -Lucy




Pretty sure she thinks my foot is a chicken.

 

[Tabatha]

I'm Stealing This From Someone Else And I Figure It's Ok Because I Have The Rest Of The Cast In My Flock, But You Should Name Her /Him Frankinfurter...From Rocky Horror Picture Show....Frankie For Short. I Have Brad, Janet, And Rocky (Yes, All Hens) Thanks To My Four Year Old Daughter...Lol.

 

[Farmer Viola]

HA HA Tabatha I love that name!! Frankie it is! I loved RHPS.. I was on the cast of a local production every saturday night, "back in the day"

 

[Tabatha]

I'm Beginning To Think We Were Separated At Birth! lmao

 

[mg15]

"Look at Runty's dress! I swear, she hasn't grown at all, her feathers are outgrowing her!"

My runt/dwarfy has not grown, she is still the same.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Alright.. I have a concern about the health of one of my Barred rocks, Wilma.

All the girls are just over 20 weeks, and I have been noticing that Wilma is kind of crouching down a lot, so I thought she was getting ready to lay an egg. She also looks a little bit "wide," not fluffed necessarily, but her wings are sort of fluffed out around her (more relaxed/hanging down wings than tucked back). She has been doing this for about a week, and today I caught her to inspect her and I felt around her hip bones to see if she could be egg bound, but I couldn't feel anything hard between her hips (completely soft, no egg). I have never felt for this before, and there's a chance I could be doing it wrong(?).

My husband also noticed her sleeping standing up, and tucking her head into her wing. These were symptoms of the black Australorp who died about 3 months ago so we are super sensitive to this behavior. While inside, she pooped on the tile in the bathroom and there was no blood (no coccidosis). She seems to stand this way a lot, but she IS still capable of walking, running, and hop-flying with her sisters. I also notice that her comb/wattle (which is still very small comparatively) goes pale while she stands/sleeps/relaxes in this way, and when she gets up and moves around it turns red again.

Here are some pictures. Front/back view of Wilma:


Comparison of Wilma next to Betty (normal/healthy stance):



I noticed some very, very small red spots up the trunk of her leg - could this be mites? See photo below. I inspected her for bugs by prying her feathers apart to look at her skin but I did not find ANY bugs. I looked around the vent, her butt area, belly, back and wings at the skin and the feathers. Could she still have bugs if I cannot see them? Her skin near her feathers is white, not red, looks a little dry, but not irritated. She has been taking lots of dust baths. She is also on a daily regimen of fresh minced garlic, which is a natural wormer but apparently doesn't help with mites/fleas? They have the option of OACV+garlic water as well as fresh water. I went ahead and ordered some diatomaceous earth from Amazon which will be here in 2 days. I figure it'll at least be good to have on hand.

So from my internet research, it could be mites or fleas. I also looked up scaley leg, but her scales look fine to me. Another possibility is anemia (pale comb/wattle changing to red during activity) which is said to often be caused by mites/fleas.

What else could it be? No one else in the flock is acting this way. Should I quarantine her? She has been doing this for about 1 week. She is eating fine, drinking regular and OACV/garlic water. She will move around when the flock relocates, but otherwise she just stays mostly still. I am cautious to treat with DE without actually seeing any bugs.


edits -

Side question: I have oyster shells to offer them when they start laying. They're cut up into small flakes. Is that small enough/do I need to crush them up into a fine powder, or can I offer the shells as they come (flaked)?

Runty: I noticed today that Runty started limping halfway through the day. She was fine this morning, but now she doesn't want to walk on her right leg. She has always had trouble keeping up with everyone else as they dart across the lawn, and today I saw her just give up following and lay down. She has really short legs. What do I do?! Everyone is falling apart!!

 

[Farmer Viola]

Additional photos:


Here are her legs. Do they look bad to you? Are her scales normal?
I notice that one of her toes on her left foot has a black spot (is it blood?) and is swollen/rounded around the black spot area. Cause for concern?


Here are the very small red spots on the side of one leg:


Normal coloring, red face. Also note that she has never been this docile (sitting in my hand without protest).


Her face skin turns pale/white after inactivity:


I hope she just wants to lay me an egg!

No egg song, no squat when I wave my hand over her, but she does squat in the yard all the time. She is also close to the top of the pecking order but shows little interest in vying against the other girls for treats right now. She has also become very docile, sitting in my hand/lap calmly and making small cooing sounds.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Runty won't bear weight on her right leg at all today. She limps or stands on one leg, and the other pullets trample her.

I set up a big cardboard box inside the house with cedar chips, food, water, and a hiding place for her. I hope her right leg heals okay Any idea how long it might take? I don't think it's broken from feeling it, maybe a sprain? After she does start to walk on it, should I wait an extra 1-3 days for healing before letting her back outside? Should I be worried about re-introducing her to the flock? She's already at the bottom, I don't know if she can take it..