Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I am on it - camera and spreadsheet to the ready!


She is totally playing with me. Today she went in at 7am and came out at 7.45am. In the 15 minutes it took me to rinse my breakfast plate and put on boots and coat against the snow she had gone back in and came out again 45 mins later. So I counted the egg as from the later time, but really it could have been earlier.
I cottoned on to one of her games because at 3am she goes into the lower level boxes, but she lays her egg in the upper level. So I realize the 3am visit was probably just a squabble with Bernie that resulted in Babs going to sleep on the sofa!


So maybe last week was more than usually disrupted because of the foxes and the hawk. So we will see how it goes from here. She doesn't seem stressed or flustered. One thing I have noticed about her is that she can be all settled in a nest box and when I rattle the seed cup she shoots out and grabs some seeds and then goes back to her box. She is not one to miss out!
Her eggs seem normal. They have been fading over the last year so it feels like she needs to top up the ink - but shells are fine and she is a voracious eater of crunched up egg shells. Well a voracious eater period.

I really want her to take a break - I hate that she is exhausting herself. She is such a poppet.

Looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. But yet, she is playing games!
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They do love to mess with us.

 

[BY Bob]

What on earth is wrong with Sheba now?

First, I apologize. Seems like I only post problems.

After Randy was rehomed last week I came down with the flu and was pretty out of commission. My husband has done all the chicken tending in until today, and he's not very observant. He doesn't get in the run like I do. Today I took them some warm treats and saw Sheba in daylight for the first time in ages.

The other hens look 100% fine and healthy!

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She acts fine. She eats fine. Surely that's not all from Randy? It looks like her head is losing all its feathers and I'm not sure what's going on with her comb.

Again, everyone else is healthy.

She has finally stopped laying. Maybe moulting is finally happening?

All of that can be from a rooster's attentions. I'm seeing a beak pattern to the comb damage. The scabbing could just now be appearing. It's watch and see time. I would just keep an eye on her.

 

[BY Bob]

Ya but she ignores me just like she does Mr P!!!

I love watching a good rooster at work. Even if the girls don't appreciate him.

 

[BY Bob]

So I realize the 3am visit was probably just a squabble with Bernie that resulted in Babs going to sleep on the sofa!

I love this. Any chance she ate on the way there? A midnight snack perhaps?

 

[Lilion]

I agree with you and I think RC has also commented, she is likely moulting. Her comb I cannot say, maybe some frostbite? Maybe an injury? Who knows with chickens. Keep it dry and as long as she’s eating and pooping it’s all good!

Input, output, make sure it’s all equal

It's hard to see on the pictures but it looks maybe more like broken feathers than molting.
With molting, you would see pin feathers full of blood underneath her normal feathers. And those don't look like they are broken ; they have a keratin sheath over them and their end is very regular.
If they are broken feathers, these don't really seem to bother the hens. They are a problem with a rooster because they won't protect the skin from his claws and spurs. Otherwise the hens don't care.
However they will not grow back until she actually molts.
Her comb was most likely pecked, but that should heal very well.

I would try to check if she is being still bullied by the other hens.

Definite blood on a bit of her comb in the fourth pic. Possibly what @RoyalChick guesses, molting plus picking. Did your temps get ti freezing or close to freezing?
The white in the picture is so reflective, it’s hard to really tell what it is, can you tell? It’s as if she got smeared with urates. Does she have pin feathers coming in on any of these areas?

All of that can be from a rooster's attentions. I'm seeing a beak pattern to the comb damage. The scabbing could just now be appearing. It's watch and see time. I would just keep an eye on her.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the input. That poor hen. First she was apparently sore from Manny's attentions and no sooner was she starting to grow feathers back when Randy got...well, randy. It was super cold last week; below zero. I'll keep a close eye on her. Hopefully no one will pick on her anymore.

 

[RoyalChick]

I love this. Any chance she ate on the way there? A midnight snack perhaps?

Of course! The feeder is in a straight line from the ladder she uses down from the roost to the nest boxes. There is a little water for her there too.

 

[BY Bob]

My one year old leghorns now do something quite similar, laying only in the morning. It has varied only slightly with the shortening of the days. But about once or twice a month, one of them lays toward noon and doesn't lay the next day. So they lay 29 to 30 eggs per month .
(I'm curious to know if those of you who have leghorns have noticed the same thing in their first year.)

You may have missed this but my Daisy laid 360 eggs her first full year of laying. That is right in line with your leghorns. I'm sad that yours are laying so many. I had hoped they would be the more natural leghorns and lay fewer eggs. I hope that you are enjoying them. They are wonderful chickens in my experience.

 

[BY Bob]

Oh poor guy - his girls are so rude to ignore his best efforts like that!

Roosters have a hard life.

 

[BY Bob]

But you know he tries hard!

Poor fellow. What a sweetie.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes - the legs crossed dash for treats is definitely a Babs thing.
Babs doesn't sing after laying - it is actually her most quiet time as most of the time she keeps up a running commentary on everything.
I am recording enter and exit time and I have it in a spreadsheet so I can see if there is a cycle based on entry time, exit time or any time in between.
But a hen that lays at 2pm one day and then 7am the next morning isn't sticking to a schedule and I don't need precise timings to see that!
Even if I exclude the 2pm as an outlier, she still isn't showing a progressive pattern.
I will update after a couple more days of observations.

How long has she been laying now?