Help... Advice Please!!

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Hello! I apoligize in advance for the long windedness of this post!

I bought a hen with 2 two week old chicks... the drive home must have disturbed her cos she rejected the chicks. So i took them in and they are thiving!! (4 weeks old now).

I was told she was a black australorp but i have doubts she may not be as all the pics iv seen of black australorps my hazel hen looks slightly different. (I cud be wrong tho im new to this). I was also told she is about a year old.

About 2-3 days after we got her she layed an egg and layed 4 more (but not consecutively). She seems healthy and is dust bathing scratching round, eating and drinkng, enjoying treats. Ive lice powdered her and have bought flubenvet pellets to start worming in next day or so. She seems to have stopped laying (not layed for 3-4 days) but is not taking trips in n out of nest box so i thought she cant be egg bound. Maybe she is still settling in??

The weather here recently have been sunny and fairly warm, i live in uk so weather is unprodictable. Her comb seems to have paled a touch and has gone dry so iv been treating it with balm. Maybe thats the sun thats dried it out?? Her comb flops over too (but it is quite tall has flopped since iv had her). No discharge or anything from nostrils or beak. No smell from mouth so dont think there is a crop problem.

Im worried incase she is getting sick, or is she fine and im im a paranoid first time chicken mum??

She is fed layers pellets, worms, fruit/veg, corn and some seed.
She has fresh water changed daily.
She has access to oyster shell and grit
Dust baths
Purpose built outdoor perches.
Free ranges all day
Fresh straw/hey daily to scratch in.
I even do a daily poo pick up to keep things clean.

Am i doing anything right/wrong? Any help and advice wud be great. I did my research before getting her but am just nervous as i love her to bits and wanna do the best for her!!

Why has she stopped laying?
Is she a black australorp?
Can i improve on anything?

Here she is Hazel Hen...

Thank you in advance for reading my very long post and for you help/advice x

 

[lightchick]

Looks like she's actually a Black sex link. She's probably just stressed out right now. So I wouldn't worry.
I love BSL's!

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Hey thanks for your post! Im new to keeping chickens so just wanna make sure im doin things right. She doesnt look like your typical black australorp does she!?

Here are pics of her two chicks, no idea what breed they are...

 

[RubyPriestess]

I'm with lightchick: I'm sure she's actually a Black Sex Link. She looks a lot like the hens on google images: { x }
I owned a Australorp pullet, and she was pure black with iridescent greens. No other colors on her.

Also as lightchick said, she's probably just really stressed out right now.
BUT, since you do let her free range, all hens have this sneaky streak where they go off and lay their eggs elsewhere! So perhaps that's why she's not visiting the nest box.
I caught my Ameraucana in the act once! She was free ranging with the others, and I wondered where she had gone off to. She had abducted a Jungle Fowl's nest and was laying her eggs in with the wild hen's eggs!

I put a golf ball in my nest boxes and that usually helps my girls get the picture that that is where they should lay. Perhaps doing that may help convince her?

Good luck with her! No worries! You sound like you're doing awesome for a first time chicken mum!

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Thank you for your lovely post! It makes me feel loads better having experienced chicken owners saying im doing everything thing right! Ill have a look around her free range area cos she does love to dig holes! She does have a beautiful green sheen in the sun but with the copper breast i did have my doubts.

I presume if her chicks will be sex link crosses? Iv no idea what breed they are i was led to believe they were also australorps untill i saw other pics of australorp chicks. I bought her off a farm i saw on an advertisement. She looked like she needed a good home. Although they seemed lovely people and seemed caring of their chickens. Iv since contacted them over the breeds and heard nothing back? Iv even offered to send pictures to see if they wanted pictures to see how they are all doing. But i heard nothing... they said they wud of liked that too :/ .... i saw no other chickens/ roosters like hazel so i wander what the chicks are? Any idea? Or they just mungrel of chickens. (I dont mind even way im smitten with em) just be nice to get an idea but wen people ask me i can tell them theor breeds. X

 

[RubyPriestess]

I've never owned a BSL, so I'm unsure as to how their chicks look at that age, but they will obviously part BSL even if they are mongrels.
From the looks of a google image search, I found a thread here on BYC that shows a few BSL looking babies similar to yours if you scroll down a bit: { x }
And here is a image from the google search of a BSL that looks close to the age your chicks are: { x }

Looks like they get that little ring of color up top as well as their breast, and the pattern looks similar to yours.
If you did buy them from the farm and she already had the chicks with her, they were probably just breeding more BSL's? That's what I think, at least.

Either way, I sure hope that farm contacts you back since you were nice enough to ask them.

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Hey thanks for posting its great to finally get some answeres. My chicks do look just like the black sex link chicks.my question is, if they had a farm and experience with chickens, how come they told me she was black australorp, im new to chicken keeping and even i had an idea she was not an australorp i didnt know wht else she may be but i had doubts. Thanks for identifying her breed. Its nice to know!

Ive checked all around her free range area this morning and there is no sign of any eggs?? And she diesnt seem to have layed today so far... mmm wander why she has stopped... maybe ive stressed her out putting balm on her comb and lice powdering her?? I didnt suspect she had mites but i just wanted to treat her for them cos shes new. X

 

[RubyPriestess]

I honestly have no clue about the farm ordeal. I would like to think that most are honest people, but then again I just found out that what I thought were my Ameraucana's are most likely Easter Eggers (that I paid $8 a chick for under a false label). That hatcheries that do know the difference still sell them under the Ameraucana name despite them not actually being of the standard. So there's always that other half of 'business' if you know what I mean...
Either that, or the person who helped you actually wasn't all that educated? If they don't respond within the week, I would personally take it as them being a lil' shady. But that's me!

I'm sure the factors of moving in general would stress an animal out, just as it would stress us humans out.
She has to readjust to her surroundings and become comfortable with it. Plus with the additional treatments, that would add on to it too I would think. Think of it as treating a child for a sickness. Children are fussy about all that, just as she probably is.

From what I've read, it may take a week or so for her to become comfy enough to start laying in a new environment. I haven't experienced this, but I can only hope for you and your new hen that she'll get over it soon and provide you with eggs more frequently! BSL's are supposedly reliable layers, so hopefully she settles down soon and that nothing is going on internally.

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Thanks for the advice! I know they seemed sooo caring at the farm so im a bit hurt they havnt got back to me. I wouldnt of minded what breed she was anyways cos it wasnt like I was after a specific breed so maybe they had it mixed up?? Im sorry to hear about your mix up with your ameraucanas. It happens a lot with blue/green laters doesnt it! I myself wud like a blue layer eventually (araucana) but I am gonna male sure they are true first before purchasing them as they are £40!!

I was clued up on the fact they may not lay untill they are settled which is why I was shocked to find her laying two days later!

Im concerned as she has now stopped laying all together this will be like the fifth day so im gonna examine ger vent to double check she isnt egg bound (which I doubt cos she hasnt been in and out of the nest box) but better the check anyways. I hate the thought that she is stressed out as I have sooo much love to give! She does come running to me though when I have food she is friendly and will eat out of my hand... she just doesnt like to be picked up or petted... im guessing she didnt have much human contact.

All the advice iv been givin has helped me lots and im really greatful. I will keep this thread updated with hazels progress and hopefully she is in good health and has no internal problem and will begin to lay again soon. Thank you x

 

[lightchick]

I own both a BSL and a Australorp. The chicks definitely look like BSL crosses. Sounds like your taking really good care of her! (and the chicks)
This is my BSL

and Australorp