geriatric hens and mobility

[PolloPollito]

Hi all,

I inherited two older hens. One is an Ameraucana and no one knows how old she is... at least 4 years old...She could be 8 years old... she belonged to an elderly woman who couldn't care for anymomre and then my friend took her on. Now my friend is moving to Hawaii... so she's living with me. She was laying up to Ocotober 2022. The other hen is a 2.5 or 3.5 year old Red Sex Link or ISA Brown.

I'm noticiing that they seem to be having trouble exiting the coop... They're not sure how to get down or have mobility problems. They will stay perched all morning or pace back and forth on the high perch.

The Ameraucana has been mildly bullied lately as well. So maybe that's a factor. I've been carrying her down from her perch in the morning, otherwise, it seems like she'd stay up there all day. I have another coop with a low perch and the Sex Link goes there half the time, which works out better for her. She just walks out.

They seem a little young for arthritis... but I'm a newbie at this chicken raising ...So, what do you think?

The sex link also seems to have stopped laying. We'll see what spring brings. The last few eggs she popped out were MEGA. Ouch!!

Thanks so much!!

A

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How long have you had them?
Have you added them to an existing flock or is it just the 2?

Photos of the coop/ramp, etc. may be helpful.

 

[PolloPollito]

How long have you had them?
Have you added them to an existing flock or is it just the 2?

Photos of the coop/ramp, etc. may be helpful.

Hi, thanks for your reply.
The two were part of a group of six for at least one year. I started with this group of 6 b/c my friend was moving away. Unfortunately, I lent out 4 of the 6 to a school. They said they had 22 years of chicken experience... ha ha ha... and the 4 were killed by raccoons at the school site within 5 days!! :-(
I also had a youngish rooster that the Sex Link adored... I gave him away to a friend who breeds chickens. The sex link lost her two best friends and her beaux. I have four 4-month year old ISA Browns and she seems to connect with two of them. In total I have 25 chickens, most of whom are 5 months old.

(I'm at work so I can't take a photo right now. I attached something similar)
My two coops (one we made ourselves) has a 3 and 4 foot entrance... both have two levels of perches, one being high. One has a big door and one has a smaller door. That's the more problematic one. The many of the chickens basically fly out from the perch from the coop we made with a giant door. Harder for the one that is store-bought, because the door is 20 inches wide by 30 inches tall or so.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

That ramp looks quite steep, this may be the issue.

I'd try changing it and see if that makes a difference.