One of my hens decided to start a hard molt in the middle of December -- a very hard molt, one of the most extreme I've seen in my 12+ years of chickens.
The first couple of days I was bringing her inside the house at night, but putting her back out in the coop during the days when it was more temperate (45+ degrees), UNTIL I noticed her staggering around and decided to just separate 100%.
She's been indoors for a good 4/5 days at this point, but she still has an awkward stagger... moreso "crouching" closer to the ground with an awkward swaying motion. She's mainly in a cage, but I let her out to clean and watch her wander around a bit when I do. It's not constant, but noticeable about 50/50.
Makes me wonder if there's something neurological going on, or MAREK's?!? She otherwise seems healthy with plenty of appetite, etc. Poops look fine, respiratory seems fine. etc. etc. Or could that just be a symptom of her discomfort from the molt? She looks like a porcupine/pincushion across ~75% of her body... it's a pretty extreme hard molt.
If anyone has any insight, or how serious I should be taking this behavior... much appreciated!
The first couple of days I was bringing her inside the house at night, but putting her back out in the coop during the days when it was more temperate (45+ degrees), UNTIL I noticed her staggering around and decided to just separate 100%.
She's been indoors for a good 4/5 days at this point, but she still has an awkward stagger... moreso "crouching" closer to the ground with an awkward swaying motion. She's mainly in a cage, but I let her out to clean and watch her wander around a bit when I do. It's not constant, but noticeable about 50/50.
Makes me wonder if there's something neurological going on, or MAREK's?!? She otherwise seems healthy with plenty of appetite, etc. Poops look fine, respiratory seems fine. etc. etc. Or could that just be a symptom of her discomfort from the molt? She looks like a porcupine/pincushion across ~75% of her body... it's a pretty extreme hard molt.
If anyone has any insight, or how serious I should be taking this behavior... much appreciated!
