I got four 12-18 month old ex-commercial hens on Saturday. See thread; https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-day-has-arrived-i-got-my-rescue-girls.1247926/
They had all been vet checked (though one has slightly long claws that should have been picked up by a half competent vet receptionist, never mind a vet), and had been with the rescue for six days.
All the girls are eating, drinking and enjoying their free range time, but at about 7:30pm on Sunday Michonne was having trouble pooping. She'd come in with a very poopy butt. They all had, but hers was particularly bad. She laid an egg by 10am, which was either slightly smeared with blood, or a shell-less egg which had either broken on the way out or had been eaten. I know one of these was hers because I was sitting outside the coop when two eggs were laid, and so know who they belonged to.
I have absolutely no experience with what a chicken butt should look like up close except once it's butchered and packaged (so now I finally know which end of the Sunday roast the parson's nose is), but it seems to be a lot more pronounced than the others, and the outside edges looked a little blue, or bruised. I gave her a warm bath and a gentle massage, and had a peek inside as best I could. I'm unsure how much handling can be done without causing problems. I couldn't see anything untoward but again, didn't probe too deep. Everything seemed soft from the outside, and any lumps or bumps felt like bone, and had matching lumps and bumps on the other side.
I towel dried her and put her into the coop as it was pretty dark (Daryl had already taken herself off to bed). After dark I checked in on her and found her asleep, standing up, on the floor of the coop (no one was on the perch... two in the nesting boxes and one on a ramp). The temp at should height is 15c, and I placed a peck-resistant snugglesafe heat pad next to her as she's not totally dry.
She's got food in her crop, and was scratching about for bugs right before I scooped her up for a bath. The only symptom until I looked closely, was that she was straining to poop and nothing was coming out. I must have watched her for about 40 minutes, saw her strain three times.
Oh, this morning the overnight poops were 3/4 firm, and 1/4 liquid and scatter gun. No blood or wrigglies, just very wet. So I'm assuming that might be hers, although Carol (who laid a perfect, clean egg at 5pm and has the fluffiest butt, and nicest feathers) has had some rather orange poop today.
Any advice on what to do if she hasn't pooped tomorrow would be appreciated. I HAVE to go to work at 9am and finish at 5pm, but the chicken vet is open until 7pm, if I do need to go... though I'd rather not add more stress to her week and get a vet bill right off the starting blocks!
They had all been vet checked (though one has slightly long claws that should have been picked up by a half competent vet receptionist, never mind a vet), and had been with the rescue for six days.
All the girls are eating, drinking and enjoying their free range time, but at about 7:30pm on Sunday Michonne was having trouble pooping. She'd come in with a very poopy butt. They all had, but hers was particularly bad. She laid an egg by 10am, which was either slightly smeared with blood, or a shell-less egg which had either broken on the way out or had been eaten. I know one of these was hers because I was sitting outside the coop when two eggs were laid, and so know who they belonged to.
I have absolutely no experience with what a chicken butt should look like up close except once it's butchered and packaged (so now I finally know which end of the Sunday roast the parson's nose is), but it seems to be a lot more pronounced than the others, and the outside edges looked a little blue, or bruised. I gave her a warm bath and a gentle massage, and had a peek inside as best I could. I'm unsure how much handling can be done without causing problems. I couldn't see anything untoward but again, didn't probe too deep. Everything seemed soft from the outside, and any lumps or bumps felt like bone, and had matching lumps and bumps on the other side.
I towel dried her and put her into the coop as it was pretty dark (Daryl had already taken herself off to bed). After dark I checked in on her and found her asleep, standing up, on the floor of the coop (no one was on the perch... two in the nesting boxes and one on a ramp). The temp at should height is 15c, and I placed a peck-resistant snugglesafe heat pad next to her as she's not totally dry.
She's got food in her crop, and was scratching about for bugs right before I scooped her up for a bath. The only symptom until I looked closely, was that she was straining to poop and nothing was coming out. I must have watched her for about 40 minutes, saw her strain three times.
Oh, this morning the overnight poops were 3/4 firm, and 1/4 liquid and scatter gun. No blood or wrigglies, just very wet. So I'm assuming that might be hers, although Carol (who laid a perfect, clean egg at 5pm and has the fluffiest butt, and nicest feathers) has had some rather orange poop today.
Any advice on what to do if she hasn't pooped tomorrow would be appreciated. I HAVE to go to work at 9am and finish at 5pm, but the chicken vet is open until 7pm, if I do need to go... though I'd rather not add more stress to her week and get a vet bill right off the starting blocks!