- Jan 11, 2012
- 134
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Poor Henrietta.
She's been "off", under the weather for about a week. She's my chatterbox. No morning greeting over my coffee, no telling me all about the coop scandals and gossips. I want Henrietta back.
It was time to worm everybody anyway, so she gobbled down her Valbazen-bread. Then I noticed her shaking her head and gaping. Gapeworms? No, I've been assured by folks who know more than me that that's not it. (She's no longer gaping - I think she was just panting in misery). She would lay down a lot, stay separate from the flock, not much appetite, close her eyes. Crop is fine. No mites or lice. I checked during the night around her vent. Her poos aren't too abnormal. Not watery or green clumps. Not super normal - more like greeninsh-brown mashed potatoes.
So then I thought, Aha!: eggbound! She's just coming off her molt, so maybe something got stuck "booting" back up. Gave her a warm soak, which she enjoyed, but no egg. I can't feel an egg in there. Her abdomen does feel a bit large, but I don't know what's normal for her. I flipped her over, and her abdomen seems kind of red. But then I also noticed that her whole undercarriage looks like a porcupine. Her belly is just full of pinfeathers coming in. I checked around her neck, and sure enough - pinfeathers all over. That would explain the head-shaking.
Could her molt and fresh pinfeathers make her miserable enough to be off the food and have a red abdomen? It's normal for her to molt now. She does every late winter/early spring. She's always miserable when she molts, but she seems a bit extreme this time. This is the first time I've seen a full undercarriage molt on her.
I've been thinking about alternative explanations - she's been off a week to 10 days:
If she's egg-bound, I think she'd be dead by now
If she's an internal layer, I think she'd be dead by now.
If she has an internal infection (her belly really is quite red), I think she would certainly be dead by now.
The Valbazen will have taken effect by now (3 days since worming).
She's not getting worse. I don't know if she's much better, but certainly not worse.
If it's not her molt, what else could it be?
She's been "off", under the weather for about a week. She's my chatterbox. No morning greeting over my coffee, no telling me all about the coop scandals and gossips. I want Henrietta back.
It was time to worm everybody anyway, so she gobbled down her Valbazen-bread. Then I noticed her shaking her head and gaping. Gapeworms? No, I've been assured by folks who know more than me that that's not it. (She's no longer gaping - I think she was just panting in misery). She would lay down a lot, stay separate from the flock, not much appetite, close her eyes. Crop is fine. No mites or lice. I checked during the night around her vent. Her poos aren't too abnormal. Not watery or green clumps. Not super normal - more like greeninsh-brown mashed potatoes.
So then I thought, Aha!: eggbound! She's just coming off her molt, so maybe something got stuck "booting" back up. Gave her a warm soak, which she enjoyed, but no egg. I can't feel an egg in there. Her abdomen does feel a bit large, but I don't know what's normal for her. I flipped her over, and her abdomen seems kind of red. But then I also noticed that her whole undercarriage looks like a porcupine. Her belly is just full of pinfeathers coming in. I checked around her neck, and sure enough - pinfeathers all over. That would explain the head-shaking.
Could her molt and fresh pinfeathers make her miserable enough to be off the food and have a red abdomen? It's normal for her to molt now. She does every late winter/early spring. She's always miserable when she molts, but she seems a bit extreme this time. This is the first time I've seen a full undercarriage molt on her.
I've been thinking about alternative explanations - she's been off a week to 10 days:
If she's egg-bound, I think she'd be dead by now
If she's an internal layer, I think she'd be dead by now.
If she has an internal infection (her belly really is quite red), I think she would certainly be dead by now.
The Valbazen will have taken effect by now (3 days since worming).
She's not getting worse. I don't know if she's much better, but certainly not worse.
If it's not her molt, what else could it be?
